Central African Republic

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Afforestation and Reforestation

The Central African Republic has opted for the restoration of forest landscapes by afforestation around agglomerations with high population density and land not occupied by vegetation. Afforestation with tree planting aims to establish a forested state on an area that has long remained devoid of trees, or that may never have belonged to the forest area. Reforestation can also have the meaning of formerly agricultural or unproductive areas transformed into forest by forest management work. In addition to traditional activities (such as the production of wood products), afforestation and reforestation aim to increase the carbon stocks contained in biomass and soils.

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Establishment of secondary forests on degraded lands

Degraded lands (e.g. areas at high risk of erosion) will be restored through reforestation activities. These areas can also be restored through conservation activities when they contain steep slopes but covered by vegetative cover exposed to the risk of water-borne erosion in the event of any disturbance.

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Rehabilitation and storage of degraded areas

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) aims to alleviate the problem of forest resource degradation through public and private investments to increase the productivity of lands and forests and thus ensure sustainable management. FLR increases the ecological, economic and social value of forests and trees with an integral approach, knowing that the majority of pressures on forests come from land use activities outside the forestry sector. Restocking or restoration consists in the reforestation of degraded areas by bringing in potential forest species for the restoration of a degraded area. Restocking is also counted among the levers of more global change, especially since it appears to be one of the courses of action to curb certain factors of degradation that would have been identified on the scale of the territory targeted by a given restoration project. but over which the actors of this territory have little influence. The main sites are:

• Potential mining areas for the repopulation of forests;
• Potential areas for the repopulation of forests along watercourses;
• Potential fallow areas for forest repopulation;

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Protection of Natural Forests

The Central African Republic is resolutely committed to a new forest policy aimed at development objectives with a view to setting up a system for the protection, conservation and development of forest resources within which the interests of grassroots populations are actually taken into account. The Central African Government recognizes the uniqueness of its protected areas and establishing official protective control must create a sanctuary for endangered species such as elephants, bongos, buffaloes, Gorillas and chimpanzees.

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Agroforestry

In the Central African Republic, agroforestry is one of the main terrestrial carbon sequestration systems. It involves a combination of trees, agricultural crops and pastures in order to exploit the ecological and economic interaction of an agroecosystem. Trees perform a variety of functions, including shading crops, controlling erosion and nutrient cycling. Shading crops and the rhizosphere with trees would significantly reduce evapotranspiration (ET) from the cultivated area, although the national and overall ET of crops and trees could increase.

Agroforestry systems in the Central African Republic (CAR) have great potential for diversifying food resources and sources of income. These can improve land productivity, halt and reverse land degradation through their ability to provide a favorable microclimate and permanent cover, improve organic carbon content and soil structure, increase infiltration and improve soil fertility and biological activity.

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Implement alternative strategies that can reduce the use of wood as an energy source

One of the main drivers of land degradation that has been identified in the hotspots is deforestation for domestic wood. This is why developing an alternative strategy is becoming a priority for CAR with a view to reducing pressure on timber resources. It is with this in mind that the national working group has identified priority sub-options to help strengthen the energy system, namely: (i) Promote hydroelectric developments; (ii) Promote the use of improved stoves; (iii) Promote biofuel; (iv) Set up an early warning system for monitoring ecosystems (bush fires, drought, flooding, etc.).