Gabon recently received the first $17 million of a pledged $150 million from Norway for results-based emission reduction payments as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).
Gabon has 88% forest cover and has limited annual deforestation to less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, in large part possible due to oil revenues supporting the economy.
With oil reserves running low, Gabon is looking to diversify and develop its economy without sacrificing its forests by building a sustainable forest economy supported by schemes such as CAFI.
Will other countries follow suit?
This episode features the popular article, "Gabon becomes first African country to get paid for protecting its forests."
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Photo Credit Elephants in Longue Bai, Gabon, by Jefe Le Gran via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jefelegran/857116478
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/