Feasibility study of a REDD+ project on the Gilé National Reserve Mozambique

Context of the service

Created in 1932, the Gilé National Reserve (RNG) now covers 2,800 km². The fauna of the Reserve is typical of miombo forests (elephants, antelopes ...). Its landscape consists of a mosaic of open forests and meadows (dambos). The RNG is the only protected area in Mozambique without permanent settlement areas. As a result, the forest and adjacent areas (especially in the west) are intact and represent one of the largest uninterrupted massifs of forest in northern Mozambique.
Hunting in and around the Reserve, its poor management and armed conflicts, have had dramatic effects on animal populations and several species have disappeared due to poaching including the black rhinoceros, wildebeest and zebra. In addition, the province of Zambezia has a very high rate of deforestation caused by slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal logging.
The IGF Foundation has been involved in the co-management of the RNG since 2007 in support of the Ministry of Tourism. However, pressures on natural resources persist on the periphery of the RNG, and local populations have rarely benefited from real development opportunities. In order to continue its efforts, the IGF Foundation has decided to submit to the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) a REDD+ project to support the sustainable conservation of the miombo forest of the RNG and its periphery.

Services provided

Jérôme MAURICE carried out the field mission (10 days) between Maputo, Quélimane (capital of the province), Pébane, Gilé, the Reserve and its periphery. Olivier BOUYER, present since the initial phases of setting up the project (he had coordinated the drafting of the Opportunity and Identification Notes of the project), led the realization of the study.
The mission provided an opportunity to meet all the project partners (Ministries in charge of the environment, agriculture, tourism, National Directorate of Protected Areas, provincial and district authorities, RNG authorities, participatory management committees for natural resources, the IGF Foundation, the Italian NGO COSV, donors).
A Project Commitment Note (CIP) was submitted to the FFEM, specifying the technical, institutional and financial content of the project. The institutional set-up (role and responsibilities of the partners, methods of managing the funds, financing plan) and the detailed action programme of each project partner have been particularly developed.
The NEP also responds to the questions of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the FFEM, by specifying the modalities of structuring and participation of local communities, the modalities of monitoring income-generating activities, the strategies to improve the acceptability of RNG agents, the methodology of carbon recovery REDD+ and the modalities of equitable distribution of the carbon rent between the actors.

Summary of the service

Feasibility study and drafting of the document of the project to reduce emissions due to deforestation and degradation (REDD+) of the Gilé National Reserve: Field mission (Maputo, Quélimane, Pébane, Gilé); Development of the technical, institutional and financial content of the project; Answers to questions from the FFEM Scientific and Technical Committee; Drafting and presentation of the Project Commitment Note (PIA).