Many larger Pacific Island States have large areas of land covered with some type of forest vegetation and thus hold significant potential to reduce emissions through improved forest management. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has a regional approach to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). In this framework, Vanuatu is developing its national REDD+ strategy in order to continue benefiting from its partnership with the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Vanuatu consists of 83 islands, roughly 220,000 inhabitants, and about 12,000 km2 of land area. More than 90% of this land is covered with 10-15% tree canopy cover, including primary and production forests. Vanuatu provides a unique setting for REDD+ due to its traditional land ownership. GIZ contracted UNIQUE to support Vanuatu’s REDD+ process.

• Advise planning and documentation of local stakeholder consultation and participation strategy.
• Assist the development of the country’s REDD+ strategy in order to meet the FCPF’s requirements.
• Institutional gap analysis for REDD+ capacity building.
• Support the development of the country’s REDD+ Readiness Preparation Proposal.