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\u2013 Program for the expansion of protected areas and optimization of agriculture\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
![\"Gabon-26730\"](\"https:\/\/gabon.yearbook-media.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/Gabon-26730-revtw2wyne2ncoynqrt3fj0b8qd0l90d6ogkjgytt6.jpg\" "\\"Gabon-26730\\"")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\tGabon's ambition is to achieve a rate of 30% of land dedicated to protected areas by 2030, compared to 22% currently.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Gabon has embarked on an innovative sustainable development initiative that resolutely aims to limit or avoid future emissions from deforestation by optimizing land use and allocation and establishing a national forest monitoring system. To this end, specific activities are defined in the country's National Investment Framework (NIC), supported by the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI I).
The "Central African Forest Initiative" (CAFI) agreement is a boon for Gabon, as conservation program budgets are usually managed by intermediary organizations that spend them mainly on studies with private or NGO consultants, ultimately resulting in few visible actions for the population. After launching the activities defined under the CAFI-supported CIN, Gabon is working to fulfill the commitments set out in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to improve carbon capture and reduce\/avoid emissions through better land-use initiatives. For more than 30 years, environmental and climate policies have been consolidated, notably with 22% of land territory and 27% of maritime territory dedicated to protected areas. Before 2030, Gabon plans to achieve 30% of protection on land, 30% of protection at sea and 30% of protection of fresh water, i.e. 30\/30\/30\/30. <\/p>\n
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The CAFI-funded Protected Areas Expansion and Land Use Optimization Program for Food Crops aims to translate unclear country boundaries and illegal cross-border activities into transboundary buffer zones and peace parks. The program will also support the Ministry of Agriculture's strategy to intensify agricultural production. This program contributes to CAFI's impacts by increasing forest carbon sequestration and reducing emissions, in line with Gabon's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), by placing 400,000 ha of forest currently dedicated to logging under protected area status and minimizing emissions from the agricultural sector; and by improving the living conditions of residents, including by reducing their dependence on imported products from other countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The program will strengthen the country's institutional capacity to implement the agricultural reform program defined by the Gabon Emergent 2025 Strategic Plan and to participate in the national land use planning process supported by CAFI. \u00a0\u2022 $5M approved and transferred (July 2020) <\/p>\n <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
The program's activities contribute to objectives I (Land allocation) and II (Forest monitoring) of the Letter of Intent signed in 2017 between Gabon and CAFI.
More specifically, the program contributes to milestones 1 (adoption and implementation of a national land use plan by December 2021) and 2 (National Observation System for Natural Resources and Forests).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u2022 5 national partners
\u00a0\u2022 $21k spent as of December 31, 2020
\u00a0\u2022 600,000 hectares of new protected areas will be established
\u00a0\u2022 400,000 hectares of forest concessions will be reclassified
\u00a0\u2022 4 cross-border parks will be created
Areas of intervention: Odzala Reserve in the North East of the country; Mayombe Park in the South; Protected areas of Mount Fouari in the South; Extension of the Bateke Plateau in the East.<\/p>\n