MAÏ-NDOMBE : Remarkable achievements with the Integrated REDD+ project - PIREDD

The Integrated REDD + Plateaux Project, operational since 2016 and implemented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Component 1 of the Improved Forest Landscape Management Project managed by the Forest Investment Program (FIP) in the DRC, has accomplished great achievements with communities of Mushie, Kwamouth, Bolobo and Yumbi in the province of Mai-Ndombe.
 
There comes the time for the FIP, project owner, and WWF-DRC, the implementing local agency, to assess activities developed in the province of Maï-Ndombe. The DRC Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, HE Amy Ambatobe Nyongolo, personally noticed level of implementation of component 1, PIREDD / PLATEAUX, project carried out while visiting the territories of Mushie , Kwamouth, Bolobo and Yumbi in Mai-Ndombe.
 
The Minister and his delegation, along with the Provincial Minister of the Environment of the province of Mai-Ndombe, Mr Vangu - FIP Coordinator, together visited the agro-forestry sites in BISIALA and LILALA, in Southern Kwamouth, and then two Local Development Committees (LDCs) before meeting with project stakeholders and beneficiaries.
 
In an official ceremony attended by local notables, the National Minister handed over PIREDD / Plateaux new offices in Mushie and Kwamouth, and motorcycles to ensure teams’ mobility on the field.
 
Mr. Alain Huart, WWF-DRC Forestry and Agriculture Coordinator, Mr. Hicham Daoudi and Mr. Christian Mbaya, respectively PIREDD  Project Manager and Deputy Project Manager within WWF  represented WWF-DRC in this official visit.
 
The REDD + Integrated Project - PIREDD - implements the innovative approach of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) with Local Development Committees and farmers; it also uses a support approach to natural resources management by grassroots communities to improve rural populations’ living conditions through targeted investments.
 
Local populations took the opportunity to advocate for the continuity of the project which is scheduled to end in 2019. The Minister acknowledged reception and promised to pass it to  whom it may concern.
 
More than 1,000 hectares have been replanted as noticed in mid-term assessment and substance agriculture - food crops  - practiced allowing populations to fight against poverty and increase their financial resources.
 
Besides, the Minister visited the agro-forestry sites of LOBOBI and LADI villages to realize farmers’ achievements in the framework of the PGAPF project. The objective of the project is to promote sustainable forest management in the former Plateaux District and the Kinshasa Basin, while improving the living conditions of rural populations and testing innovative mechanisms for forest management in the intervention area, and is supported by the World Bank with US $ 36.9 million fund.
 
The Integrated REDD + Project is managed by the Ministry of the Environment through the Forest Investment Program (FIP) with support from the World Bank and aims to test new approaches to improving community well-being and forest management to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in selected areas.