Ivory Coast lost almost all of its forests mid-century: the Forest Investment Project (PIF) launched on November 24 will have to triple its forest cover by 2030.
The FIP aims to achieve “the country's forest coverage of 6.5 million hectares by 2030, that is, 20% of the national territory”, according to the World Bank, which finances it to the tune of 143 million euros.
“It is about preserving and increasing the forest stock thanks to an agroforestry program that covers 300,000 hectares of classified degraded forests in the southwest of the country, and in classified forests in the savannah zone (north)”, explained the Minister of Water and Forests Laurent Tchagba.
This seven-year project is also expected to benefit the country's four national parks, including Taï (west), Africa's second primary forest, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a biosphere reserve.
Cocoa trees and forestry
Delegations from Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, in The Dominican Republic, a cocoa producer like Ivory Coast, participated in the launch of this project. “These countries draw up a guide in which they will share large-scale experiences of cocoa and forest tree associations,” explained Jean-Dominique Bescond, natural resources management specialist at the World Bank.
Ivory Coast, which had 16 million hectares of forest in the 1960s, saw the area hidden to two million hectares, according to official data, mainly due to the development of cocoa plantations, of which the country is the world's largest producer. , with 40% in Marketplace.
(with AFP)
