This application to access the PPF will facilitate the elaboration of the full proposal of the project titled “Securing Permanent Forests to Combat Climate Change and Enhance Sustainable National and Local Economies in Cameroon”. Classified as a lower-middle income economy, Cameroon remains among Africa’s least Developed countries. Although the forestry sector is one of the major sources of government revenues, the annual rate of forest cover loss, including permanent forests areas (PFAs), currently stands at 0,12%. It is however, estimated that this rate will increase, mainly due to uncontrolled encroachments from private sector and other extractive groups that ironically facilitate the release of about 19.5 million tons of carbon dioxide each year from PFAs.

Consequently, one of the major goals of the Cameroon Government is to reduce deforestation and emissions from forests by promoting sustainable management of PFAs. However, the government and other key stakeholders are facing some challenges because although climate change priorities are identified as one of the key strategies to reduce deforestation and low carbon growth, notably in the NDCs, the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change, the REDD+ National Strategy and the Country GCF Investment Programme, problems still abound because there is insufficient resources to generate the necessary data to attain the above objective, notably data on climate change analysis in the target sites of the Project and at the national level. One of the main objectives of this Proposal is therefore to identify and recruit high profile experts to elaborate feasibility studies (that also include climate change analysis and economic and financial analysis, Restoration Opportunity Assessment Methodology (ROAM), etc.) to address the above gap. The outcome of the various studies will facilitate the elaboration of a full project proposal that will be submitted to GCF for funding.

The following key activities will be carried out within the framework of this PPF: the elaboration of a) the feasibility study, b) the Environmental& Social Impact and Gender studies, c) the Risk Assessment; d) Analysis of policies and ongoing initiatives on forest sector and REDD+; e) Climate analysis, f) Report of greenhouse gas emission evaluation and assessment of carbon impact based on the project life cycle activities with quantification and valuation of non-carbon benefits g) the full

Funding Proposal, etc. The total budget of this 15-month project is estimated at 702,684 USD, with 555,684 USD requested from GCF.

As Accredited Agency, IUCN is responsible and accountable for the implementation of all activities under this PPF. IUCN will therefore receive and manage the funds, ensure technical and financial reporting, recruit consultants or a Consultancy Firm in collaboration with MINFOF, supervise work of the consultant, provide technical and strategic guidance in the execution of the project that will culminate in the elaboration and submission of the full project proposal 1 year after the approval of this PPF Application.