By Rebecca Chimjeka Matemba in Belém, Brazil:
Terra Global Capital has identified Malawi as a country with vast potential to scale up nature-based solutions in the fight against climate change if decisive national action is taken to curb deforestation and strengthen carbon market readiness.
The woman-led social enterprise invests in, and manages, forest and land projects to fight climate change and generate carbon finance.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (CoP30) currently underway in Belém, Brazil, Managing Director for Natural Resource Management at the company, Erica Smith, said Malawi’s degraded landscapes present both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Malawi has experienced significant historical deforestation. There are areas that are degraded, eroded or too steep to support agriculture. These are exactly the landscapes where nature-based solutions like agroforestry and forest restoration can thrive,” Smith said.
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She added that restoring such areas can increase carbon stocks and position Malawi to earn revenue through carbon credits both from emission removals and emission reductions.
She further said Terra Global Capital is working with Malawi in three protected areas of Nyika, Vwaza and Nkhotakota, where conservation efforts are progressing although nationwide deforestation remains a major concern.
Smith expressed concern over the rates of deforestation, which have risen significantly in the past 15 years, according to studies.
Launched in 2009, the programme was Africa’s first Verified Carbon Standard and remains Malawi’s longest-running and largest Redd+ initiative.
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Director of Economic Planning and Coordinator for the Regional Climate Resilience Programme, Adwell Zembere, said the government was scaling up nature-based solutions nationally through a major World Bank-funded programme.
According to Zembere, nature-based solutions will be the hallmark of interventions under a World Bank-funded initiative that aims to rebuild infrastructure damaged by Tropical Cyclone Freddy among other challenges.
“Under the initiative, Malawi is implementing a $240 million project. To build climate-resilient infrastructure and reduce vulnerability to future disasters, the World Bank has allocated an additional $15 million specifically for nature-based solutions,” he said.
