9 July 2014, IISD news - The twelfth meeting of the Policy Board of the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (UN-REDD) approved more than US$35 million in funding for REDD+ readiness. The funding included allocations for National Programmes in Argentina, Cote d'Ivoire and Mongolia.

In addition to funding for National Programmes, the Policy Board approved more than US$24 million for global support to build technical capacity and support learning and knowledge exchange.

The Policy Board also adopted a roadmap to develop a UN-REDD Programme Strategy for the 2016-2020 period. The Strategy will reflect the evolving needs of countries as they move through the REDD+ readiness process and will build on the experiences of the UN-REDD Programme and partners thus far. The current Strategy will come to a close in 2015.

Finally, the Policy Board heard reports from countries highlighting achievements such as progress in Uganda towards its goal of 24% forest cover, a presidential decree in Ecuador to support free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as a critical component of REDD+ readiness, and initiatives by UN-REDD for capacity building (the REDD+ Academy) and information sharing (the REDD+ Radar).

The meeting was held the 8-9 July 2014, in Lima, Peru. The next Policy Board meeting is scheduled for November 2014.

Source: http://forests-l.iisd.org/news/un-redd-policy-board-approves-us35-million-in-funding/