July 20, 2023

B. Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP)

This project targets the Northern savannah regions of Ghana.

The project was developed with strong private sector participation and, was submitted to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for support. At the 26th Board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) that was held virtually in August 2020, the funding proposal was approved.

The GSLERP seeks to promote sustainable approaches to land use, forest conservation and enhanced community-based resource management to stem the ongoing degradation and deforestation from illegal logging, charcoal production, agricultural expansion, and illegal mining that threaten the forests and Shea production system. This programme would also be an important initiative to strengthen rural economies in the north, support female-dominated Shea harvesting systems and revenue streams, and address poverty which is widely considered to be endemic in this zone.

The GSLERP provides a unique opportunity to engage in the forest commodity, Shea and its by-products which are an important income generating activity for 600,000 women, and has gained prominence as a preferred ingredient in the cosmetics and food processing industry. Ghana is currently the fourth largest producer of Shea globally.

 

The GSLERP will deliver

  • 200,000 hectares of off-reserve savannah forests restored and placed under self-financing community management;
  • 300,000 hectares of degraded Shea parklands restored;
  • 26,000 hectares of modified Taungya system forest plantations created in severely degraded forest reserves, and;
  • National REDD+ monitoring and reporting systems strengthened.

 

 

 

These actions will catalyze a paradigm shift and deliver 6.135million tCO2e in emission reductions and removals over the first seven years of implementation. It is expected that revenues for local communities and community members, especially women, and their public and private sector partners, provide strong incentives for the profitable and sustainable management of forests, plantations and Shea parklands