Forest Reserve Nigeria: REDD+ | NTFP | Climate Smart Agroforestry

Afi Forest Reserve & Wildlife Sanctuary, Nigeria
Bridget Nkor (Nigeria), Jason Yapp (Malaysia/UK) & Donatella Fregonese (Italy/UK) began developing a project in January with the indigenous Buanchor community who are the custodians of–and who live in three villages that are surrounded by the Afi Forest Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary a habitat for gorilla and a biodiversity hotspot.

Afi Forest Reserve Map
	A participatory needs assessment was conducted with 280 community members who were representative of the 2000 people living in the forest reserve.

Based upon the needs assessment we concede that the Buanchor are suffering from high unemployment, a loss of environmental services that had been provided by the forests due to forest encroachment and poaching, and a reduction in their agricultural livelihoods due to climate change induced periods of drought.

A village in the center of a forest reserve
	Bridget, Jason, and Donatella have developed a project designed which includes the development of nontraditional forest products, market development for these products, a REDD+ forest stewardship program, and a climate smart agroforestry program.

[Problem 1]. High unemployment rate
NTFP Skills and Microenterprise Program [Solution to underlying cause: lack of micro-enterprise skills and market opportunities]:
[Activity 1]. Participatory community NTFP committee/association formation
[Activity 2]. Non-timber forest products and markets assessment
[Activity 3]. Association sales and marketing strategy
[Activity 4]. Participatory vocational skill needs analysis
[Activity 5]. Non-timber forest products skills development training program
[Activity 6]. Microenterprise skills development workshops