Gabon clinches historic 10-year deal

Gabon just made an historic 10-year deal that is the first of its kind in Africa. The United Nations announced this week that Gabon will become the first African country to be paid with international funds to preserve its rainforest. This deal is hoped to pave way for other African countries like Nigeria where the […]

Gabon just made an historic 10-year deal that is the first of its kind in Africa. The United Nations announced this week that Gabon will become the first African country to be paid with international funds to preserve its rainforest.

This deal is hoped to pave way for other African countries like Nigeria where the forest has increasingly been tamed by rampant urbanization, forest management and poaching.

Unlike Gabon where reports show it has been able to preserve 85% of its rainforests, Nigeria has been unable to do that. The rate of deforestation in Nigeria pegged at 3.5 per cent annually is considered the highest globally. Nigeria loses 1.5 million trees daily due to illegal logging and for such reasons, a deal like the one Gabon just got will benefit Nigeria immensely.

The Gabon deal was announced at the Climate Action Summit in New York, where world leaders gathered to discuss how to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

As the threats of climate change loom, many governments, companies and individuals are seeking out ways to curb their emissions. Following the devastating Amazon rainforest fires in Brazil, the whole world is now focused on climate change.

The deal will ensure that Gabon maintains close to 98% of its rainforests. Norway will be endowing a whooping sum of $150 million to Gabon through the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).

CAFI is a collaborative partnership that consists of Central African partner countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and a coalition of donors including the European Union, France and Germany.

Norway’s minister of climate and environment, Ola Elvestuen, expressed hopes that the partnership will help Gabon maintain 98% of the forests.

“I am very pleased with this results-based partnership through CAFI, which includes a historic carbon floor price to further encourage Gabon to continue to preserve its rainforest. This is a major breakthrough for REDD+ in Africa.”

CAFI also released a press statement, stating that, “The 150 million US dollars agreement announced today between Gabon and Norway via the Central African forest initiative (CAFI) is historic in many ways. For the first time, an African country will be rewarded in a 10-year deal for both reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation, and absorptions of carbon dioxide by natural forests.”

Gabon’s new minister of Forest, Seas, Environment and Climate Change, Lee White, believes that in raising the value of the Gabonese rainforests, there will definitely be an improvement in the living standards of the Gabonese.

“We have to raise the value of the Gabonese rainforests in order to ensure that conservation and sustainable exploitation can be used as tools to improve the living standards of the Gabonese people by creating jobs and livelihoods, whilst also sustaining natural capital, and to preserve our natural treasures and bio-diverse ecosystems,” he said.