The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, on behalf of the Forestry Commission, has signed a Letter of Intent with the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the grant of Thirty Million US dollars (USD $30,000,000.00) to provide additional/alternative livelihood support to forest fringe communities as an incentive for them to engage in enhanced forest protection, forest restoration and reforestation.
This forms part of efforts by the Government of Ghana to achieve the biodiversity and climate objectives under the Resilient Ghana Package launched at COP28 in Dubai, last year.
In 2022, at COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak, launched the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) as a new political forum that brings together governments and partners to work together to implement solutions that reduce forest loss, increase restoration, and support sustainable development.
Subsequently, at COP 28 in Dubai, Ghana launched her Resilient Ghana Package for nature, climate, and people, under the FCLP.
The Resilient Ghana package includes an integrated system-wide suite of interventions to help halt and reverse forest loss while delivering sustainable development and promoting inclusive rural transformation.
It is underpinned by three key pillars, namely nature-based industrialisation and rural development; future-fit green jobs and livelihoods; and scaling climate ambition.
At the launch of the Package in Dubai, several countries pledged their support to the Resilient Ghana Package. UAE, the COP28 Presidency, as part of its commitment to contribute funds to target deforestation and biodiversity loss, committed to invest Thirty Million Ghana Cedis (US$30,000,000.00) to enhance Ghana’s efforts towards halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030.
This was followed by several engagements between the two countries to unlock the necessary funding to support the Package.
