CAFEC FY14 Annual Report: October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014

USAID and other CAFEC partners developed results chains, including indicators and assumptions, for CAFEC and SCAEMPS strategies aimed at advancing CARPE's objective. This process helped partners ensure their implementation strategies would collectively contribute to measurable results. However, delays in workplan approvals and full implementation commencement were experienced, particularly for strategies where SCAEMPS played a significant coordination or implementation role. CAFEC activities in the Virunga Landscape were conducted by four consortium partners, WWF, WCS, IGCP, and WRI, in collaboration with national protected area agencies, the ICCN, and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). Other important partners included local NGOs and local authorities. The threats to biodiversity and forest cover in the Virunga Landscape included insecurity, poaching, overfishing in Lake Edward, and rapid deforestation driven by slash-and-burn agricultural practices and illegal logging for fuel wood and charcoal production. The CAFEC consortium worked with local partners to reduce the rate of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity in the Virunga Landscape through the implementation of a subset of CAFEC strategies. These strategies included strengthening protected area management capacity, strengthening implementation of land use management plans, enhancing law enforcement and prosecution, promoting sustainable livelihood alternatives, and integrating REDD+ on a landscape level. Despite security challenges posed by armed groups in the North of the Virunga Landscape, ICCN continued to be supported by the CAFEC consortium through assistance with patrolling, monitoring, participatory cartography, and demarcation operations. In the Virunga Landscape, the CAFEC consortium achieved several notable accomplishments in FY14. These included disseminating the final version of the Land Use Plan (LUP) to stakeholders and strengthening their capacity on implementation of the LUP validated by local authorities. The program also continued to advocate for state-sanctioning of community-level management structures and the devolution of rights and responsibilities for NRM. In addition, 1,592 ha of additional woodlot plantations were established around Virunga National Park (PNVi), which can produce an estimated 3,000 tons of charcoal annually, generating a potential 10,000 jobs and $625,000 in revenue. The CAFEC consortium also made progress in promoting sustainable livelihood alternatives, including the production and sale of cookstoves. A total of 9,710 cookstoves were produced and 4,961 sold in FY14, bringing the total number of cookstoves produced to 57,000 and sold to 52,700 since July 2009. The charcoal saved by Nguvu Nyeusi stoves is estimated to avoid the emission of about 250,000 tons/year of CO2e and has protected about 5,300 hectares of forest from degradation. In terms of capacity building, the CAFEC consortium trained members of partner associations and CBRNM committees on REDD+ concepts and issues, leading to the creation of a local governance structure named the "Climate Group." A monitoring and evaluation system was also established to track the effectiveness of capacity building approaches for civil society organizations and partners. Additionally, CAFEC match funding supported WWF efforts to undertake a value assessment of their reforestation efforts in the Virunga Landscape, focusing on developing private forest plantations with small landholders to produce charcoal.