Posted on August, 15 2016

The Government of Nepal (GoN) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation(REDD) Implementation Centre formally launched the Emission Reduction Program Document(ER-PD) Development Process through an inception workshop organized in Kathmandu on the 14 August 2016.

The inception workshop is a stepping stone to develop an ER-PD which will outline possibilities to achieve the expected(ex-ante) 14 million tonnes of CO2 eq. emissions reductions from the forests of the 12 districts of the Terai Arc Landscape by 2020.

The inception workshop saw participation of the chief of REDD Implementation Centre Dr. Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Mr. Uday Chandra Thakur and dignitaries from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, National Planning Commission and Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. Likewise, representatives from Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, indigenous and marginalized communities, academician and experts took active participation in the workshop.

The ER-PD- expected to be submitted to the World Bank and GoN by the end of November this year- will be developed, budgeted and implemented after a series of consultations and focus group discussions with central, regional, district and local stakeholders including government line agencies, women, marginalized groups, indigenous communities of the twelve districts of Terai Arc Landscape(TAL).

The consultation will focus on five broad areas: a) Sustainable Management of Forests, b) Improved Land-use Planning, c) Promote Renewable Energy Technologies, d) Promote Private Forestry, and, e) Promotion of Alternative Livelihood Option for Forest Dependent Communities.  Consolidating these five broad areas, the ER-PD will also include the social, legal and technical issues as per the requirement of the local communities in the districts.

In March 2014, the Government of Nepal (GoN) submitted an Emission Reductions Program Idea Note (ER-PIN) to the FCPF Carbon Fund for 12 districts in the Terai Arc Landscape. The government is now positioned to prepare the full Emission Reductions Program Document (ERPD) detailing the REDD+ program design across this area.

The ER-PD development process is being supported by the World Bank/Forest Carbon Partnership Facility with technical assistance from WWF US, WWF Nepal and Arbonaut.