World Bank injects more funding into forest management

The World Bank has approved additional funding for Laos to finance its sustainable forest management project, the international financial institution announced on Wednesday. 
According to a media release from the World Bank, the International Financial Institution’s Board of Executive Directors on February 12 approved US$5 million in additional financing to the Scaling-Up Participatory Sustainable Forest Management Project.

This project will help Laos to improve sustainable forest management, community livelihoods and climate change mitigation.
“This additional financing will help Laos to manage its production forests, and the villages that depend on them, in support of a greener, more inclusive and sustainable pattern of economic growth,” said World Bank Country Manager for the Lao PDR, Nicola Pontara.
“This is consistent with the aspiration of the Lao authorities to prioritise development support to poor villages.”
The project has achieved significant results since 2013, boosting livelihoods in more than 650 forest-dependent villages in 13 provinces; and improving the planning and management of 41 of the country’s 51 Production Forest Areas, covering 2.3 million hectares.
This remarkable progress has been instrumental to reduce deforestation and the associated carbon emissions.
Since the original project started, new economic opportunities in sustainable forest management have emerged not only for villages but also for the private sector.
Realising this potential will require additional financial and technical support, especially in areas related to community engagement and governance issues.
“The additional financing for this project will help strengthen the governance of natural resources through more sustainable forest management. It will also create exciting new opportunities for private sector investments,” said World Bank Senior Environmental Specialist in Laos, Stephen Danyo.
The additional funding comes from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, which helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve lives.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update February 14, 2020)