REDD+ pilot project makes the second forest-carbon payment
On July 18, 2012, three watersheds under the REDD+ pilot project in Nepal received a seed grant of US $95,000 as carbon payments for their contributions to sustainable conservation and management of forests. Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Mr. Resham Bahadur Dangi handed check amount of US $44,188, US $26,122, and US $24,691 respectively to the REDD networks of Chanarwati watershed of Dolakha, Ludhikhola watershed of Gorkha, and Kayerkhola watershed of Chitwan districts.
The REDD+ pilot project is being implemented since 2010 in 105 CFUGs by Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal (FECOFUN) with the financial support of Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) for the development of an institutional mechanism to ensure equitable benefit sharing and forest carbon payments to local communities. In this regard, a pilot Forest Carbon Trust Fund (FCTF) was established in 2011, which provides US$ 100,000 as seed money per year from 2011 to 2013. The first forest-carbon payment was made to the three watersheds by FCTF in 2011.