In 2017, the UN-REDD Programme supported the completion of the National REDD+ Strategy, which has now been endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The Programme also supported the elaboration of the national FRL that was submitted in January 2017 and the Technical Assessment process which was completed in 2017. The revised FRL will be finalized in 2018. The NFMS design has been completed and its implementation strengthened through the improvement of data and national institutional capacity. Safeguard systems are yet to be fully designed, but a proposal for a national approach to SIS has been developed. The Programme has also strengthened capacities to develop a National Forest Inventory (NFI). NFI trials were undertaken in conservation areas and production forest sites in two jurisdictions. The UN-REDD Programme also supported Cambodia to revise its NFI field manual, update Open Foris Collect database and field forms and develop Open Foris Calc scripts for data analysis. Training events coordinated by the Programme enhanced Government stakeholder capacity on forest inventory, data entry and data analysis. The latest NFI field manual was translated into Khmer to increase accessibility.
Capacity development through the Programme has made possible the implementation of a national-level NFI as part of Cambodia’s Forest Investment Programme (FIP) funding proposal to the World Bank. Programme support was implemented alongside the first phase of the FCPF Readiness support to Cambodia, which provided inputs on National REDD+ Strategy development, SIS and NFMS. Building directly on UN-REDD Programme technical support, FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme provided assistance to Cambodia’s national FRL and Technical Assessment process.
