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Kick-off meeting
Tropical Forest Climate Change Adaptation in West Africa
Palm Beach Hotel, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 7- 8 June, 2006
Climate change has a severe impact on livelihoods of people in Sub Saharan Africa. As a region highly dependent on climate-sensitive livelihood sectors like agriculture, pastoralism and forestry, the vulnerability to climate change is very high. Predictions portray very gloomy days ahead if adaptation efforts are not put in place.
Tropical Forest Climate Change Adaptation (TroFCCA) is a global initiative sponsored by the European Union. It is implemented in three regions: West Africa, Asia and Central America. In West Africa, the project is currently working in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana under the auspices of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). TroFCCA aims to increase the visibility of tropical forests for climate change adaptation. Forests provide alternatives for people’s livelihoods through forest foods (shea butter, baobab fruits etc), medicines for family health, fuelwood and charcoal for household energy, construction materials, grazing and also maintaining a clean water supply and others. However, these systems receive pressures from bush fires, drought, land conversion, overgrazing desertification, deforestation and unsustainable lumbering. These processes are exacerbated by changing climatic conditions, which further limit the provision of goods and services from forests to society.
TroFCCA West Africa is having its first West African meeting of partners and stakeholders in Ouagadougou from the 7th to 8th June 2006. This meeting will officially launch TroFCCA’s activities in the region with representatives from governments, international and regional organizations, NGO’s, scientists, academics, and the public. Together, they will initiate a regional policy dialogue on how to prepare for and cope with climate change. These stakeholders will also try to identify and assess the vulnerability of forest-based sectors and prioritize their needs for intervention in national development.
The two-day meeting provides opportunities to evaluate methodologies in the assessment of vulnerability of forest goods and services and the communities that depend on them. It will also identify the gaps in the accessibility and utilization of scientific information in the formulation of climate change adaptation policies, and what adjustments could be made to improve policy dialogue process in the region. The meeting will explore the opportunities for transboundary initiatives for climate change adaptation and set future milestones and follow up mechanisms. Some examples of transboundary initiatives include transhumance, regional river basins, national parks and biodiversity conservation. This TroFCCA’s meeting will also support participating countries with their national adaptation plan of action (NAPA), and the second national communications as required by UNFCCC.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Johnson N Nkem,
Regional Coordinator
TroFCCA-West Africa
CIFOR
Tel:(+226) 50 30 47 42/76 04 01 51
j.nkem@cgiar.org
Related documents and information can be found here.