Dubai, Dec. 4, 2023 -- Recognizing the importance of ecological integrity to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, including climate regulation, the Government of the Republic of Congo, represented by the Ministry of Forest Economy, and WCS have initiated a new program to attract investment in the conservation of high-integrity tropical forests.
This joint commitment to developing pilot investment projects in high-integrity forests is demonstrated by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the high-integrity forest investment initiative in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. The MoU was signed today in Dubai on the occasion of COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference.
High-integrity tropical rainforests represent 40% of the world's remaining tropical forests and are the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. They are home to more than half of all known plant and animal species and support the livelihoods of millions of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Tropical rainforests are an essential part of nature's climate infrastructure, storing and removing massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere; shaping the hydrological cycle and atmospheric circulation on which much of the world's food production depends; and reducing temperatures and the impact of droughts and floods at local and regional scales. Nevertheless, their ecosystem services do not fit into the logic of carbon offset markets and are taken for granted in most existing climate models and financing mechanisms.
Said Rosalie Matondo, Minister of Forest Economy of the Republic of Congo: "The government of the Republic of Congo, through the Ministry of Forest Economy, is committed to promoting the new financing mechanism for the protection of high-integrity forests (HIFOR). I would like to express my deep gratitude to WCS for its interest in finding appropriate solutions for biodiversity conservation and enhancement, including the HIFOR investment initiative, by giving a monetary value to the absorption of carbon dioxide by high-integrity forests. The Government of the Republic of Congo, through me, confirms to the Wildlife Conservation Society its commitment to collaborate within the framework of this new initiative, with a view to raising its level of ambition on issues linked to biodiversity conservation and the fight against climate change in the Congo Basin.”
Together with its partners, WCS aims to create a new High Integrity Forest Investment (HIFOR) asset class, pilot the approach at a number of sites (notably in the Amazon and Congo basins) and set up a system to enable it to be extended and adopted in other geographical areas and by other organizations.
Daniel Zarin, WCS Executive Director for Forests and Climate Change, said: "The Congo Basin contains some of the world's most important high-integrity forests and peatlands, making it a critical geography for climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as biodiversity conservation. WCS is keen to work with the government of the Republic of Congo to pilot a mechanism tailored to financing the protection of high-integrity forests based on their value in terms of climate and biodiversity. Our aim is to encourage the Congolese government and people to pursue sustainable, nature-friendly economic development, in keeping with their historic role in conserving tropical forests, Indigenous cultures and the biodiversity they harbor."
Investors or buyers of these assets would be able to make a range of contribution claims linked to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and social values. The assets are not carbon offsets and are not eligible for offset claims or offset markets.
The first pilot project to be developed in the Republic of Congo will be the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, managed by the Nouabale-Ndoki Foundation, a partnership between the government of Congo and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Other pilot projects in the Republic of Congo will be jointly examined and evaluated using the methodological criteria developed for the HIFOR initiative.
Richard Malonga, WCS Country Director for the Republic of Congo, said: "The HIFOR (High Integrity Forest) initiative aims to create a new asset class for climate and biodiversity to help finance the protection of high integrity tropical forests. As you know, WCS believes that the Republic of Congo would be the ideal country to pilot HIFOR as it abounds in high integrity forests and WCS would be delighted to help Congo be the first country in Central Africa to have a HIFOR site.
“This is why WCS would like to take advantage of COP28 to jointly announce with the Ministry of Forest Economy the agreement to implement HIFOR pilots in the Republic of Congo."
In the Amazon Basin, a HIFOR pilot project is currently being developed in Amazonas, Brazil, based on an agreement between the Amazonas Environment Secretary and WCS Brazil, announced last year at the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.