Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is a mechanism to use financial incentives to reduce deforestation and forest degradation under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Royal Government of Cambodia considers REDD+ as an effective measure and designed the national REDD+ Roadmap in 2010. Multiple development partners including JICA pledged supports to implement this Roadmap. This seminar is to summarize key activities of JICA technical support and discuss further activities to facilitate Cambodia’s national REDD+ process. The seminar is presided over by H.E Yin Kim Sean, Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment, and H.E Hidehisa HORINOUCHI, Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia with participation from relevant ministries and projects.
JICA’s support for Cambodia’s REDD+, titled CAM-REDD, started in June 2011. In the past 6 years through CAM-REDD, JICA supported Cambodia’s national REDD+ process in a variety of ways: technical capacity building and provision of equipment to measure, report and verify (MRV) forests, establishing National REDD+ Strategy, and implement pilot projects. One of the largest technical challenges was to build historical trend of deforestation for the calculation of baseline emission which is used in the future to assess the efforts of Cambodia to address deforestation. By introducing latest methodologies with satellite imaginary data and other geographical information technologies, JICA Technical Assistant Team worked tirelessly with the Cambodian government to improve forest cover map of 2006 and 2010, made the forest cover map of 2014 and 2016, and designed national forest inventory and national forest monitoring system.
H.E Yin Kim Sean expressed sincere thanks to have Japan’s technical support and cooperation in capacity building for REDD+. Also, JICA and Embassy of Japan are very proud of the technical achievements Japan contributed and congratulate Cambodian government to reach this far to present the latest land use/cover map today. The government succeeded in cutailing its map production time almost by half. While the JICA Technical Team will be finished with successfully support to established national REDD+ framework, Japan is willing to support Cambodian government further for on-ground REDD+ implementation and protect the valuable forest ecosystems Cambodia treasures.
At the event, H.E Secretary of State and the Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia together with various stakeholders, pledged further commitment in implementation of REDD+ for sustainable forest resource management and conservation. The government of Japan also hopes to continue enhancing collaboration with the Royal Government of Cambodia in implementing on ground activities to fight for deforestation.
