Government is committed to prioritising and creating awareness on education to resource owners of what the REDD+ initiative seeks to address.
Speaking at the launch of the REDD+ website, Ministry of iTaukei Affairs Deputy Secretary Loata Vakacegu stated that government was committed to safeguarding the interests of iTaukei land owners through the REDD+ programme.
“The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs prioritizes the awareness and education of resource owners on what REDD+ is all about and works with the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry which is the line ministry for REDD+ in the national steering committee,” she said.
She also added that through the launching of this website, the dissemination of information on REDD+ and its objectives would be accessible to the public.
“The whole idea behind the launch of this website is to disseminate information on REDD+ as wide as possible and through this we give the opportunity to the public to easily access information on REDD+ related programmes like climate change and sustainable forest management practices and also best practices that have been conducted regionally and globally.
She added that the launching of the website also related to sectors that included forestry and climate change.
“The launching of the REDD+ website relates to all sectors including forestry and climate change which is an issue that is being handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By press of a button we can access information through this website,” she said.
Ms Vakacegu advised members of the public to familiarize themselves with the contents of the website to safeguard against the effects of deforestation and climate change. She added that the website was through government funding and that it was also urged for students to access the information on the website to educate them on REDD+ and what was all about.
“This website will be one of the crucial effective means of widely disseminating information to rural and remote communities around the country as far as REDD+ is concerned and I also encourage students to access the website to know of REDD+ activities.
REDD+ is a sustainable forest management initiative and it addresses the challenges that accompany deforestation and unsustainable forest degradation and activities that have depleted our forest stock.
The website was launched because the access to information was crucial to areas with internet access. It is an initiative that strives to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation through conservation, sustainable management of forests and carbon stocks.
The newly launched website IP address is http://fiji-reddplus.org/