Due to the health situation related to the COVID19 pandemic, the GLOBE Legislators project ‘Legislative Actions to Advance Forest Governance through REDD+ and Natural Capital towards the implementation of Agenda 2030’, proceeded with the celebration of two seminars to carry out the activities foreseen in the annual work plan despite the presence of COVID19 by shifting to virtual platforms. This allowed the compliance with barrier measures and gestures and allowed the massive participation of parliamentarians.
The role played by the GLOBE Senegal chapter, the Secretariat of the UN-REDD Programme and the MEDD, in the process of steering the national adhesion to the mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+), is a successful example of practical progress towards achieving the objectives of sustainable management and conservation of forests as well as the enhancement of forest-related carbon stocks.
Two virtual training sessions for parliamentarians, civil servants and civil society were held on June 27 and July 18, with the objective of familiarizing participants with the REDD+ mechanism and the Senegalese legislative framework on forests, including the new Forestry Code adopted in 2019.
The training also revealed the interest for parliamentarians to mobilize the MEDD for adherence to REDD+ and the Gaborone Declaration. The participants noted that national legal frameworks, technical expertise and financial resources are lacking. As it prepares for Senegal’s adhesion to REDD, the MEDD has appointed a focal point within the Directorate of Water and Forests, Hunting and Soil Conservation (DEFCCS).
The second virtual workshop, focused on raising awareness about the dispositions of Law n°2018-25 of March 12, 2018 on the Forest Code and its implementation decree n°2019-110 of January 16, 2019 was held on Saturday, July 18, with the involvement of civil society such as the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR), the Ecological Monitoring Center (CSE), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The interaction with the REDD+ mechanism is based on the fact that the new Forest Code reflects and provides a mechanism for implementation in Senegal of global commitments on forests such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising out of their Utilization (ABS), to which REDD+ safeguards are also aligned.
The GLOBE Senegal legislators will play a major role to advance this agenda as they prepare to move oral and written questions during the next budgetary session in plenary. It should be noted that the spread of the virus has weighed heavily on their activities. Despite this situation, we were able to organise two virtual activities which were a great success.
