Overview
The overall objective of this flagship project is to finance elements of a comprehensive national forests’ rehabilitation plan in Côte d'Ivoire and support the implementation of the National Strategy of Conservation, Restoration and Expansion of Forests (SPREF, 2019). The SPREF aims at halting and reversing the country’s high deforestation rate and increase the country’s forest cover.
The project's specific objectives include:
- improvement of the forest governance framework
- reforestation programme in classified forests
- reforestation programme in rural forests
- support to cacao-forests specific projects (agroforestry)
The operation is linked to the Team Europe initiative of “Sustainable Cocoa”. It will contribute to
- climate action (mitigation and adaptation) and environmental sustainability objectives (protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems)
- EU’s priorities for the sub-region and Côte d’Ivoire on conservation of biodiversity and the natural heritage in ‘ecoregions’ and forests.
The project responds to the Ivorian Government's objective to combat deforestation, conserve existing forests, and increase the forest area throughout the country, and as such strengthens the EU-Cote d'Ivoire partnership (geopolitical relevance), while maintaining consistency with the Green Deal.
