This program addresses critical deforestation, climate vulnerability, and hydrological disruption across key river basins in Zambia and the surrounding sub-region. Rapid forest cover loss – estimated at 250,000 to 350,000 hectares annually – threatens regional biodiversity, alters weather patterns, and severely reduces water flow to major rivers like the Zambezi, Kafue, Mulungushi, and Mkushi. Because these waterways feed major hydroelectric installations, sustainable watershed management is a vital economic and energy security priority.
By maintaining and restoring mature forest ecosystems, the project aims to enhance evapotranspiration, stabilize precipitation, improve carbon sequestration, and secure water flows essential for sub-regional energy generation and rural livelihoods.
Objectives
- Forest Restoration & Carbon Sequestration: Increase total forest cover and enhance biomass productivity in degraded watersheds to expand above- and below-ground carbon storage.
- Participatory Governance & Fire Management: Improve spatial planning and conservation through community-led forestry programs, mitigating unregulated logging and bushfire risks.
- Climate Resilience & Adaptive Capacity: Strengthen institutional and local capabilities to monitor, predict, and manage climate risks, particularly in vulnerable human-forest boundary zones.
- Capacity Building & Regulatory Monitoring: Enhance monitoring of timber harvesting, processing, and trade to protect watershed health, while integrating project findings into national and regional policy frameworks.
- Sustainable Economic Development: Support rural communities with decision-making platforms and sustainable forestry enterprise development to diversify household incomes.
Total Program Budget $50,000,000