LUSAKA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government Tuesday commended the World Bank for approving funds for implementing a project aimed at tackling deforestation in the eastern part of the country.
The World Bank earlier this month approved about 33.05 million U.S. dollars for the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Program to be implemented in all nine districts in eastern Zambia. It will cover around 5.5 million hectares of land.
Minister of National Planning and Development Lucky Mulusa said the project will result in increased forest cover through tree planting and sustainable forest management, and further result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
The program has been approved by the government and has been designed as a multi-sectoral program focusing on forestry, agriculture, wildlife and land-use planning and management, he added.
The project, he said, will also improve agricultural practices through climate-smart agriculture, promote zero deforestation, and develop biodiversity conservation through local community participatory approaches.
According to Mulusa, the project will comprise support for the first phase of five years which will seek to build capacity and improve livelihoods, and will reduce deforestation. This will be extended by another 10 years with a focus on emission reduction, financing another 30 million dollars as an incentive to reduce deforestation, depending on the success of the first phase.
The minister said the government has solicited support from cooperating partners in a number of sectors to help combat climate change and its effects.
"As government, we will ensure that the program is implemented successfully," Mulusa told reporters during a press briefing at his office in Lusaka, the country's capital.
The project has been funded under the BioCarbon Funds and is designed to promote a performance-based approach to reducing greenhouse emissions in the land-use sector of agriculture and forestry.
Zambia is among the first four countries that have access to funds from the BioCarbon Funds under the program called Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes. The others are Ethiopia, Colombia and Indonesia.
