Citola Blog
Defra commits £100 million for International Forestry Funding
The UK Government has committed £100 million to international forestry projects that provide specific biodiversity benefits. The money will assist the establishment of projects which focus on the conservation of habitats though tackling deforestation and the fragmentation and degradation of forests. It has also been indicated that the UK wants to see gross tropical deforestation halved by 2020 and net global deforestation halted by 2030.
An earlier Citola post discussed the COP 10 Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Nagoya, Japan. At this conference, where 193 countries are setting new targets to protect the natural environment, UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said:
“Tackling deforestation is critical if we are to be successful in our goals to protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and reduce global poverty."
“Forests are home to over half of the world’s plants and animals, and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, while deforestation accounts for almost a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions."
“With so much at stake, the UK Government believes it’s time to establish a substantial and longstanding financial commitment to REDD+ to protect the world’s forests and the plants and animals that live in them.”
Citola welcomes these announcements in the lead up to the COP16 Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico. Citola develops REDD projects by identifying rainforest that is increasingly under threat from deforestation under a “business as usual” scenario and by working with stakeholders to finance the preservation and conservation of the forests through the origination of carbon offsets.
Furthermore, UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has outlined policy sentiment similar to that discussed in the a post titled the Economic of Ecosystem Services: “The UK is committed to bringing about real change in the way in which natural capital and ecosystem services are valued and mainstream into decision making processes.”
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