Photo: Livingstone, Zambia (via Creative Commons / Stone Wu)

1. Background

The role of forests and trees outside forests (TOF) on enhancing resilience of biophysical and social systems and reducing of global greenhouse gases is increasingly gaining attention in national programmes and plans. For instance, through the Paris Agreement, countries have identified in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that forest and tree resources are essential in climate change mitigation and adaptation.  This is a major shift from what has been traditionally known on the importance of forests to ameliorate climate change through the process of carbon sequestration. It is on this breadth that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has been recognized as a global mitigation mechanism with adaptation co-benefits through improving local livelihoods, enhancing biodiversity, conservation of ecosystem services and strengthening local institutions. Such adaptation benefits are argued to be realized if people gain access to land and forest resources to enable them to derive primary and secondary forest products and services. This requires a good enabling environment such as responsive and effective institutions and governance as well as integration of policies for adaptation and mitigation.

It is in this context that the African Forest Forum (AFF) in 2019 commissioned studies targeting the strengthening of the capacity of African forestry stakeholders to integrate and increase uptake of forest and on farm tree-based adaptation and mitigation options in response to climate change in Anglophone, Lusophone, and Francophone Africa. The studies revealed that in Anglophone and Lusophone Africa, afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry/tree on farm or trees outside forests, conservation, establishment of wood lots, natural and assisted regeneration and general tree planting were among the successful activities that integrated mitigation and adaptation options. In Francophone Africa, large scale forestry practices such as conservation, afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable forest management as well as on farm tree-based practices were the activities that successfully demonstrated mitigation and adaptation benefits. There were various conditions that enabled successful implementation of forest and tree-based mitigation and adaptation options. These were: cross-sectoral collaboration; economic incentives; provision of livelihoods; capacity building addressing climate change; sound governance and institutional framework; monitoring and assessment; and finance and investment. Based on this assessment, AFF developed a framework for integrating forest and tree-based mitigation and adaptation (M+A) options in different landscapes.

The framework comprised key measures and criteria that need to be considered at each critical point/stage/level in the policy process and in the course of developing and implementing programs and projects. For example, at the policy and institutional level, the focus should be on promotion of inter- and intra-organizational collaboration and coordination; institutionalization of integrated M+A interventions and their promotion in current and future programs; enhancement of regulatory frameworks; development of financial and stakeholder’s awareness; and strengthening technical capacities on integrated M+A interventions. At the landscape level, measures such as maintaining or enhancing the health of forests ecosystems; developing and monitoring robust carbon and adaptation indicators; and demonstrating the need to plan for forestry and tree-based interventions in mitigation and adaptation options were identified for consideration in the framework.

In 2020, AFF recruited national experts in selected countries who undertook in line with the developed framework, field appraisal of activities on the implementation of forest and tree-based adaptation and mitigation options in different landscapes and forest types in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia that addressed the following objectives:

• Identify national, sub national and local programmes and projects that are implementing integrated forest-based adaptation and mitigation policies, strategies and actions;
• Identify national, sub national and local programmes and projects that are implementing integrated on farm tree-based adaptation and mitigation activities in areas around the chosen forest type through Agroforestry and other Farm-based Management of Natural resources (FMNR) approaches;
• Appraise the programmes and projects activities in line with the framework developed by AFF on the implementation of integrated forest and tree-based adaptation and mitigation options in different landscapes and forest types;
• Analyse challenges that stakeholders who are implementing integrated forest and tree-based adaptation and mitigation options in different landscapes and forest types might face in reporting using the developed framework;
• Identify suitable strategies that can be employed to support effective implementation of the developed framework for integrating forest and tree-based adaptation and mitigation options in different landscapes; and
• Review/contextualise/adapt the framework developed by AFF and based on the outcomes from (iv-vi) above in order to facilitate its use for effective reporting on integration of forest and tree-based mitigation and adaptation options in the chosen forest/agroforest types.

These studies generated knowledge that could guide stakeholders in African forestry to successfully implement activities that integrate forest and on farm tree-based mitigation and adaptation options using the contextualized framework for effective reporting in their NDCs and other national plans and programmes.

2. Rationale and purpose of the validation workshop

AFF in its annual work plan 2022 on the “African Forests, People and Climate Change” project plans to share the findings of study, collect additional data from the participants who were not involved during the data collection, and validate the contextualized framework for integrating forest and on farm-tree based adaptation and mitigation options in various forest landscapes in Zambia.

3. Objectives of the validation workshop

The overall objective of the validation workshop is to share the findings of the study carried in Zambia and authenticate the contextualized framework for integrating forest and on farm-tree based adaptation and mitigation options for adoption and upscaling in various forest landscapes.

Specifically, the workshop participants will:

• ascertain relevance of the findings in addressing the needs of the stakeholders handling forest and on farm tree-based mitigation and adaptation options in various landscapes in Zambia;
• Strengthen the findings of the study by collecting more data from the participants who were not involved during data collection;
• assess the extent at which the contextualized framework for integrating forest and on farm-tree based adaptation and mitigation options for adoption and upscaling in various forest landscapes meets the current and future needs of the country’s ambitions in addressing climate change;
• identify any gaps and integrate them in the current developed contextualized framework; and
• identify new and emerging areas that should be considered during the finalization of the framework before widely sharing to targeted stakeholders in forestry and allied natural resources.

 4. Expected outputs

• Relevance of the findings ascertained by selected stakeholders involved in forest and tree-based M+A activities, programmes, plans and policies.
• Additional data collected to strengthen the findings;
• Validated contextualized framework for integrating forest and on farm-tree based adaptation and mitigation options in various forest landscapes in Zambia;
• New and emerging areas are identified and documented for finalization of the framework

 5. Workshop Approach and Duration

The validation workshop will be held in Kitwe over a duration of one day on 29^th July 2022.

6. Participants

The workshop is expected to convene 22 participants/experts from different forest landscapes in Zambia.

 7. Venue and Logistics

The venue of the validation workshop will be Kitwe. The participants’ travel dates are 28^th and 30^th July 2022.

To download the Concept Note, click here