 Welcome everyone. Welcome everyone to this event on the Aim for Forest program and its approach to country lab planning This event will introduce a new project, which is about to start accelerating innovative monitoring for forests But let's start with opening remarks. We have an opening remarks from Julian Fox Who is the team leader for forest monitoring at the FAO and we will also have opening remarks from Fiona Stringer Who is with the international forest unit of the UK? She is with the Department of Energy Security in Nancezera, but we start out with Julian, please Thank you, Till. Thank you everybody for joining us late in the day I'll provide some brief remarks because I actually have really enjoyed the GFOI so far And I you know, it's incredible to see the the progress countries have made. You know, there's there's 75 reference emission levels 28 red plus technical annexes submitted to the UNFCCC. This represents an incredible Momentum, I would say, you know many countries submitting detailed international reports for the first time ever But you know despite this this incredible progress there there are quite quite a few concerns that I heard this morning as well on On the sustainability of what we've built over the last 10 years, you know What to what degree a national forest monitoring systems institutionalized and you know, how stable are the MA MRV parts of those national forest monitoring systems on which it depends There are also concerns from the countries we heard over the last four days in different workshops On how their data and and capabilities match to the emerging accounting standards There are there are some exciting opportunities in in climate finance, and we definitely don't want countries to be left behind So I mean in some ways a forest monitoring MRV Driven by by this collaboration over the last 10 years is it is almost at a bit of a crossroads I would say I mean we see access to performance based results. We see many submissions Whilst at the same time donor support for sort of readiness is declining I feel like there's a risk of forest countries not being able to consolidate and institutionalize their national forest monitoring systems and possibly not having High integrity data to participate in emerging accounting standards Parallel to this GFOIs is a government forum There's there's been an increasing recognition in the recent cops of the role of indigenous peoples and local communities In the climate and forest agenda their role as forest stewards has been recognized And under this program. We'd also like to include them We'd like to Hear what they need and how we can help them strengthen their forest stewardship role even more and we have a specific side event tomorrow On that topic in this very same room, and I invite you to join us so with the UK and we started discussing this idea five years ago, but But I'd have to say a huge thanks to Fiona and the team in the last year It has come to fruition and we have a new UK funded program called aim for forests not aim for climate I think we named ours before them so and It really addresses that that need that I just talked about the need for operationally operational and institutionally embedded national forest monitoring systems linked to domestic priorities and providing high integrity MRV Supported by an end-to-end country-led planning process so Also including that IPLC element, which is quite exciting for us So today, I think we will hear from some of the early Deliverables in fact the program was launched on Earth Day, but because the GFOI plenary was now We went into hyper acceleration mode and started delivering under the program immediately. So here's some of the early early results We'll hear about sample based and actually during the plenary. We'll hear some of the outcomes of this new program around Sample-based area estimation will hear about the sepul online facilitated course from Rossio and we'll also launch the IPLC work stream tomorrow And we'll hear from Kenya because in fact aim for forests builds on a smaller UK packed program called impress Which was a pilot and is it's just come into a nice conclusion and now we are transitioning to the larger aim for forest Just to say the program in implementation will work hand-in-hand with UN red in its critical role in providing technical assistance to countries It'll keep strengthening and building on FAO's digital public goods Which we have developed a lot with support from providers such as Nick fee and it'll also strengthen the GFOI collaboration So this is a this is really exciting for us and the whole community I think it's an opportunity to To make sure that all our work is is Institutionalized and that the no countries are left behind in in terms of opportunities from new accounting standards Please do engage either as a support provider. We'd love to collaborate with you as a country We'd love to work with you. We count on your active participation. Thank you very much back to you till We also have opening remarks from Fiona peace Hey, hi, everyone. It's great to be here today My name is Fiona stringer and I'm in the red plus team in the international forest unit of the UK government This is a joint unit across the Department for energy security and net zero and the foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Which has been set up to support the delivery of UK governments? International forest policy programming and ambitions So I'm really excited to be here today to share and present on our new UK International climate finance supported program the aim forest program which was launched in partnership with FAO a few weeks ago on Earth Day and the development of a dedicated global support package towards forest countries Monitoring and MRV capabilities has been quite a long time coming for the UK's international forest team So we're really excited to have this now UK action to support tackling of deforestation and enhanced Livelihoods and sustainable land use management has been quite prominent including through support towards pioneering red plus initiatives such as the fcpf biocarbon fund isofal Rem and leaf However, we do greatly acknowledge that there's a continued need for the presence An effective utilization of high integrity forest data and MRV to ensure that these initiatives are really able to advance And forest data is you know, really the backbone of successful forest and land use related activities And it provides the vital information needed to support the development of effective evidence-based policies and practices to protect conserve and sustainably manage forests and to ensure that forest countries and Their communities and indigenous people can be effectively rewarded for those activities that reduce emissions and Contribute to global efforts to tackle climate change So this new program is really looking at how we can support to build that long-lasting capacity to advance effective forest monitoring and MRV and accelerate red plus and enable access to wider benefits and It will really build on key lessons learned from existing initiatives, which will speak through but both through International development partners and with our UK based Earth observation expertise So the program will also deliver on our UK international climate and nature objectives including the Glasgow leaders declaration on forest and land use and the 12 billion Global forest finance pledge. It's also part of our international climate finance Commitment to spend 11.6 billion to 2026 Including by providing three billion to solutions that protect and restore nature So I'll pass back to our excellent moderator tell and yeah, super excited to be here and share this program with GFI community This was Fiona Stringer with the UK government. Thank you Fiona All right, I'll introduce the panel then please and if you would please join me up here That would be great All right, so my name my own name is still naive I am a consultant with the FAO's national forest monitoring team and I'm the facilitator of this event But we have a range of great speakers We will start out hearing from Fiona again a second time I've already introduced her Secondly, we will have Faith which we really speak to us. She will present some of the impress project and how that was Instrumental for designing the new program the Impa forest program third we will have Marika Suntka Who is a forestry officer with the FAO? She is also one of the world's leading experts on measurement reporting and verification She will play an important role under the Impa forest program to Fourth, we will have illy read. She's a consultant with the G4I office where among other things She works on drawing up a process for country let planning which will be a center piece to the new program And she'll speak about that and finally we have roceo condor roceo condor Who is also a forestry officer at FAO where she works where she provides technical leadership on issues that relate to the enhanced Transparency framework and she'll relate in the early case of capacity development through the program which shows You know how we intend to develop impact here We will we will run through the presentations quite quickly because we have five of them so Yeah, I intend to do it in a way where we do one presentation after the other and then we have time for discussion at the end So if you have a super important burning clarification question, you can ask in the meantime in between But the the remarks and the discussion points and all of those keep those keep those for the end The same goes for participants who connected online. There are about how many connected online There but 64 persons connected online and there's about another 65 inside this room So we got good participation colleagues that you're connected online. Please do ask your questions We will also take questions from your end later Then finally if there were questions among the panelists that would of course be especially exciting But let's see how that goes. Okay. Excellent. We start out with a few slides from Fiona in addition to our opening remarks Who will present a bit on the UK strategy the UK strategy and why the UK decided to fund the aim for forest program? Cool, so Yes, so I spoke to a lot of this a few moments ago, but just to recap We all obviously know the importance of forest monitoring forest data and MRV or else We wouldn't be in this room and and we're aware and have heard already today of the broad International support that has been present in this space the advancements of tech and data coverage and the magnitude of Key lessons learned and successes from that action However, we're very cognizant that the context is continually shifting and therefore the need for support still remains and forest monitoring and MRV are difficult and Standards and expectations evolve over time particularly in the context of red plus advancements and integrity demands support may be piecemeal at times and can be Uncoordinated although notable coordination improvements have occurred due to GFY and Success takes time particularly in developing a fully operational forest monitoring MRV system And our prior understanding or expectations of the development of these systems were arguably over over ambitious so forest countries may also face growing pressures to resource focus on other areas and So we really do see that there continues to be a financial and delivery gap and therefore the need remains to consider how forest monitoring and MRV is can be holistically delivered for countries individual requirements and also thinking through what the end goal achievements and purpose is to ensure future sustainability, so There's demand for support with this approach in mind And I think you know notably red plus programs like FCPF and global initiatives and projects under FAO GFY silver carbon Nick fee and others have laid and continue to lay and the really important foundations for countries and Projects such as UK packed FAO impressed project have also provided valuable learnings and directional approaches to considering this holistic support for monitoring MRV And so this additional UK 24.5 mil of funding provides an opportunity to integrate and leverage the various lessons and successes under these different streams To support countries harmonize their approaches to MRV and forest monitoring So why the UK and and what is our strategic rationale for support in this area beyond the obvious importance? The UK has a really strong track record in and commitment to driving international action to tackle deforestation and manage forests and land sustainably At COP26 the UK led the way in securing agreement from over a hundred and forty world leaders to work together to halt and reverse forest and land degradation by 2030 and the Glasgow leaders declaration and The UK also has a broad mission to kind of work in partnership with countries around the world to advance these commitments Component of that has been our ICF commitment including three billion on solutions that protect and restore nature the UK has also had a significant role in red plus partnerships and programming and It's one of the leading development partners through our investments under the World Bank's FCPF and The biocarbon fund kfw's red early movers and also the leaf initiative So these programs have really paved the way in set in times of setting out the Parameters for high integrity performance based payments But we're really mindful of the continued support that is needed in order to operationalize Country programs and unlock the much needed finance and That countries deserve so support needs for red plus readiness still remains high And this new funding through aim is acknowledging that we don't want to leave any country behind and ensure that opportunities are enabled for all And the UK also has a wealth of academic and industry expertise a prominent space agency and Earth observation community With much experience in supporting countries in project Earth observation and satellite support And so we're really keen to ensure that the brains of the UK are shared internationally through the delivery of this program And so talk a bit about the program development and kind of where this came from So obviously a key component of this the initial component is in stakeholder engagement and scoping existing initiatives Building on lessons learned asking ourselves what's out there and what the key takeaways and therefore what the gap is So some of those barriers that we identified and we heard some of these discussed in the session that was just had And things like over focusing on fulfilling specific gaps or progressing without a comprehensive vision for the future and Incentives that are more supply-led rather than demand driven and also the remains coordination capacity and capability gaps So UK funding in this area is really looking at how we can adapt to these lessons learned Thinking about the whole system functionality the sustainability how to ensure approaches are country driven And that they build an existing initiatives and consider the wide variety of gaps that countries may face and Including particularly those methodological and technical gaps that indigenous people and forest communities may face in participating in red plus and So that's how we developed our objectives for the UK support in this area And we want to build long-lasting capacity for red plus countries to advance align and implement monitoring and MRV systems are fit for purpose and provide end-to-end system functionality So yeah build building capacity integrating forest monitoring and MRV within wider national policy priorities and commitments Really realizing performance-based payments for countries and communities And also enabling scalability and long-term financial sustainability strengthening the reliability of forest cover data And leveraging UK expertise as well So our second step was to develop a theory of change for this So really thinking about what we want our impact and outcomes to be and how we can reach those So last October we hosted a collaborative theory of change workshop partnering with GFOI and the UK space for climate initiative to convene international and UK based experts So I just briefly present on some of the key takeaway points from this And there's a real emphasis in the room on sustainability and how we can ensure future sustainability and a big part of that was alignment with domestic priorities and commitments and incorporating forest country national systems Beyond simply just red plus and there's an emphasis on quality quantity and consistency of MRV and forest monitoring data And really an emphasis on how important country-led demand-driven approaches are to ensure relevance And so alongside this So kind of following but also alongside The UK approach for decisions relating to international climate finance is through a rigorous business case development process And as part of that we do a thorough options appraisal and so yeah really thinking about what it is that we want to do with this funding So it kicks off with an internal workshop to consider a long list of options which get refined through a strength weakness and opportunities and threat analysis That is tested against our strategic objectives, which I've spoken through already and critical success factors And so things that applied across all UK funding and like value for money capacity capability and The outcomes of that identified a short list of options for the ultimate delivery vehicle and we shared a request of information from potential multi-country multilateral deliver partners who might be able to implement a program of this scale and intent And that was followed by an internal assessment panel and And This led to the development of aim for forests I'm so really excited that this has been announced now Working with FAO as the main implementing partner, but also in close collaboration with do for why and you're in red to deliver support to 20 forest countries the program offers a really holistic harmonized approach to consider both The technological and methodological gaps as well as the capacity barriers that forest countries may face and it offers tailored Solutions and support that acknowledges the need to create sustained systems for change and institutionalizing activities and outcomes In addition to this an element that we're really excited about is support towards IPLCs and how we can advance IPLC efforts to monitor Forest areas and enable access to forest finance So our event on the IPLC component is tomorrow. So please do join for that as well. And Otherwise, I'll pass back to you till Thank you Fiona Now what that presentation really shows is how much thought went into developing this program not only on the side of FAO But very much on the side of the government of the UK So yes, thank you very much for that in case there is a quick clarification question, you can ask it But the discussion we keep for later the discussion we keep for later Okay, yes, what we do next is we hear from from faith Who will speak to us about the impressed project the impressed project which was a bit of a pilot really for this program? No, because that is a program that was implemented over the last what one and a half years or so where we learned a lot on What a good approach could be for engaging with countries and we hear about that now And maybe you can recognize some of the elements in that oppressed project and link them to the elements that we see under aim for forest But faith over to you, please Thank you very much till for welcoming me again again. I say my name is Faith Motuery And also not forgetting to recognize my Kenyan counterparts Otherwise, they'll let me they'll tell me not to go home with them Now impress I want to talk about implementing high integrative forest data collection That is what we have done through the impressed project I'm going to talk about the five Activities here about our FRL the gap assessment that we have done and the recommendations that were there What have we done that's impressing Kenya the results that we have attained and the way forward what we need after this Talking about the Kenyans FRL again as I said that this was true as support from the Japan government Through a project called cadet that is capacity development projects for sustainable forest management in the Republic of Kenya quite a long name but the project that was it supported by Jaika and We had a reference period of 2002 to 2018 that is what we reported in our FRL in 2019 The scale was national and the only gas reported was carbon dioxide the other gases we never reported due to lack of information or data The activities that we focused on were the four activities The fifth activity we did not report on the same now for the conclusion of the mission factors We did a pilot and a fire because the government of Kenya does not have an ocean of forest Inventory and it had a total of one and in a 21 plots again as I said it's a cutting across all the forest status in the country The generation of activity data we developed through a process called slick It was a process that was funded by the Australian government Development of quite very many maps from 1990 all the way to 2018 However in the generation of the activity data we did only from two or two up to 2018 and the method for developing the change was the map subtraction method I think it's going to say this method what we did because this is what you have done as an improvement through the impress project You have to proceed technical assessment was done in 2020 and There were various recommendations that were done especially the improvement of our quality improvement of our data The activity data and that's how the impress came in on board in Kenya to support this this started in 2021 the project and it's going to end in 2023 and This project has got five work streams I wanted to have been working on and one is to To have a high-quality activity data for deforestation forest degradation and forest restoration The second work stream is better information on wetlands. This would to separate the Our wetlands that is the mangroves from the coastal forest because that is one of our stratification in forest among the other four Which is the plantation forests the dry land forest and the mountain and western rainforest The work stream three is the aggregation of emission trends for carbon finance opportunities We need to have an opportunities to be able to access the carbon finance from the country However, how do we meet the requirements? This is the work stream three to help us support that and the work stream for its reverence improved data on policy planning and Deploymentation we also need to use this information for policy decisions and Faith the work stream is the lessons learned That's a south-south exchange and replication in other countries and that is where we are here to share with you our information What we have done some of you could be able to take this home and also try to implement this Through impress we did an intensive gap assessment. So to see where we have gaps This is as a result of the recommendation from the assessment report the technical assessment from you and F triple C and from that Gap assessment impress was able to see where we have gaps and when we need to have Improvement one of the areas to improve is to check on our reference period because we needed to access the climate finance What we need to do about this reference period Some of them will require longer periods other shorter periods like five years However, this we did a reference period of 2013 dream press to 2017 and accrediting period of 2018 to 2022 The system or the way in which we approached in doing the sampling is a sampling approach using a two kilometer grid as shown on the map on the right and They came up with 150,000 point 150,000 points approximately for the entire country and A machine learning based time series was used Analysis to be able to have the potential change locations in each of these points where do we have? Where is it a likelihood that we have a change in these these points? An interpretation of the points was done through collect ad online and a sample selected from 150,000 of 7,000 313 sample points was interpreted and A method called a sample sample based area estimation method was used to estimate the areas For these activities that we are talking about deforestation degradation ATC Now the sample Based any estimation methods works as in the flow diagram shown So we have a sample design part of it where the systematic grid is generated They were the two kilometer grade and the response design Where we have the sampling to have a sample area from all the points that we have so to see where those areas of change And then there's a visual interpretation the classification and the stratification in different status And finally we have an analysis where we get the hybrid area estimation Now this going down to Kenya what they did in Kenya in terms of that method that we have described in the previous slide We had a systematic sample as I said of two kilometer grade and Which came to we are saying approximately 150,000, but specifically is 149 460 samples and These samples were subject into a same time series are using different algorithms be fast Q some ATC and Generating a map which is shown there a map of probability of change meaning That's where do we have the highest or the lowest probability of change So the blue part has got the highest the lowest probability of change while the red or the pink Depending whether you're male or female some have color problem So red pink that's color is as the lowest probability of change and then a sample was selected Of 7,000 3 and 13 and then categorized into three classes or three stratas using the name and method now a visual interpretation was done for those samples and It's iterative. So we do the interpretation go back again check from the sampling circle as Area the probability of changes and then go back and during the previous presentation I think there's a question that was asked which I need to address maybe here What did we do with these two kilometer grade points? Are we is it an inventory or what was it? But it's an interpretation from 2002 all day Yes, using the same point and interpreting what class you see and that's what I think it is a probability of change Is it a deforestation from forest to non-forest or the other way around is it a restoration now? The visual interpretation was done Using different Institutions not only the Kenya Forest Service So we had the Kenya Forest Service the directorate of resource service and remote sensing so represented here and Regional Center for mapping of resources for development and the team on the right there That was the entire team of eight female and five male that was Representing and the facilitators all those are supporting the capacity building and interpretation So we have tail and Wesley also in the room were also among the group We have already given them. They should be Kenyans by now now the this interpretation was use of a collected online and We and the two data collection activities We did two rounds that is the first round was that we did the 4600 and drip sample points between the period given and also did a second round of interpretation I of 2017 samples between November and December Now out of the team there. We also narrowed down a team for the QAQC For the QAQC quality assurance of four to five people that did a QAQC team To check the work that we have already done Results We again as I said that we did a 20 that into 2021 however in Generating the reference period and the crediting period. We only picked the area in blue that is in 2016 to 2020 and the crediting period of 2021 Having an average of the five-year period Got a value as the table shown on the right and also with a difference and got a difference So which means that we have reduced or with 1 million for 152 That figure carbon dioxide by year tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is a percent difference of around 26% meaning then then we have some carbon that we can talk about for the for the carbon finance and What's the way forward is my last slide till and what we need to do that We have done a lot of work under the impress however, also we have a lot of things all the way forward that you want to talk one of Them is to to further refine the estimate of emission reduction that is focused on the mangrove as said again as a separation Also improve the estimates associated with the restoration activities and update the reference and the crediting period as required or as needed Then we need also the artist registration documents. This is on the process Also to improve our national forests alert system to be operationalized the through throughout the country and Also, we are looking at the outcomes of impress exchange knowledge that happened last week Which is a these are some of things that came up about the degradation definition most of the country's head Others did not have a definition. So how do we have that one definition as one of the things? Then also the climate finance programs. We need to identify similarities in programs among the standards on to enable Submitting requirements effectively. How do we go about this as different countries that was represented? The other thing that came out was the sample based estimation estimates. It seems that this method has become a rather A standard rather than an exception So therefore easy with that we are transiting or what we do about the transition between this method And the last one is the benefit sharing schemes. Some of the countries have some do not have but it's a requirement How does every country meet these requirements? Thank you Thank you faith This was faith where Kenya Forest Service now these two presentations that we've listened to they described the context for the new program now because The Kenya experience was instrumental for us in learning what kind of approach could be useful and Then if you're not spoke about of course about the design process for this from the perspective of the government of the UK What we hear next is Marieke We will hear from Marieke who will speak to us about what the aim for forest program actually consists of So Marieke will show us a few slides on the activities the outputs and the expected outcomes of that program Marieke over to you, please. Thank you very much and hello everybody So yes, I am going to I have the honor to to present a more detailed the this new exciting program accelerating innovative monitoring for forest All right, so I'm going to try to speak in less than 10 minutes And here's the outline of the presentation, but let me go straight into it So We've made a lot of progress in MRV and tomorrow morning You will see this slide again, but not the other slide so you know, it's not going to be too much of a repetition But yeah tomorrow morning, we'll have a session where we'll discuss all this progress that has been made by countries so since 2014 When rep plus resulting kicked off to the UNF triple C We now have 60 countries that reported reference levels to the UNF triple C And we have 21 countries that have reported results, which together add up to 30.7 billion tons of CO2 equivalent So that's quite significant, but of those 13.7 billion not that much has yet received Payments so a lot still remains to be done And there is this need to move towards high integrity what what these emerging standards refer to as high integrity data So why will first of all they need more transparency reliability you need to calculate confidence intervals But there's also and here you see a little diagram of you know Older approaches which we refer to as pixel counts or you know just using statistics from maps and Sample-based estimates it's not just about reporting the confidence interval, but especially about removing any bias in the data So here these two examples you can see that actually the magnitude Can be quite significantly different and in the lower graph You can see that also the trend can really be different when you improve the data And of course this is really relevant for understanding if emissions really have been reduced So it's challenging though for countries to move, you know constantly further and to improve their their data so aim for force really seeks to Assist countries in meeting this this challenge And you know getting this is high integrity data. So the program is targeting around 20 countries And seeks to institutionalize the National Forest monitoring system So it really it should not be it's never is a one-time-off exercise, right? It's a constant It has to be a sustainable system with constant monitoring That is happening and countries need to inform in all their domestic policy making and decision-making but at the same time Reach the high integrity mrv Requirements in these emerging carbon standards to actually give them access to payments You know at the same time, you know, we need to consider the context of this all which is really strengthening the affolue contribution in nationally determined contributions So that is what the project Seeks to to achieve and the implementation will free will be through the UN red program and specifically through out point 1.4 which is all about high integrity mrv So the outputs there's six outputs that this Program is seeking to to achieve the first output is really about tools and platforms Maybe if you have heard it mentioned before but of those 60 reference levels more than 90 percent have used open source Tools or platforms produced by FAO now, that's great But that also means that you know, we have a responsibility to make it make them better make them user friendly Make them in such a way that really helps countries to achieve the Requirements in the emerging standards, you know, we also really want to have Learning programs and learning platforms to explain All these these different requirements to explain how to use these tools and here Rocio is now going to speak to us about the the Saipal online course in a bit Then the third output is about Including indigenous communities in in forest monitoring and seeking how forest monitoring can empower them and can make sure that you know They also benefit from carbon payments Finally, we really want to have a end-to-end Country-led planning process and Ellie will tell us more about this in a minute And an output five and six are about technical and institutional gaps and how to fill these within countries So here's a little diagram to show that you know these different outputs. They're all Related somehow to one another, you know, they're not standalone outputs, you know the the novel methodologies For example, you may think about new sampling approaches as Faith mentioned that you know are under development under the impressed progress program and Which also in a side event on Thursday, there will be more discussion about this approach So these novel approaches that may require also updates in tools so that countries can easily apply them in their country So then at the center of this all is the country-led planning process and through that we might identify technical and functional gaps to to fill and Really the indigenous peoples we really hope to Have them, you know integrated all over And we yeah, we hope to find ways of of recognizing their importance to worship So here's a slide which is a little spoiler for Ellie's presentation, so I'm not gonna talk to this I'm just gonna say stay tuned more will follow and Ellie will present this slide in a bit Now how to progress to? Towards high integrity MRV so we see this as already mentioned before we see this as a Process where all these elements are related to each other So we try to address methodological challenges also you may have heard last week There was this degradation workshop where countries are given the opportunity to Discuss how they are assessing emissions from degradation and what challenges they are facing And this is something that this project also seems that this program also seems to seeks to address Then we need to have advanced you know the tools and data sets that can be used by countries And again the learning material that we'll see a little bit about in in a bit from Russia And we also really want to strengthen the community or Set up a community or strengthen the community of practice for indigenous peoples on forest monitoring and and MRV Here's just a slide to show you know how important it is to also For the national forest monitoring system to be sustainable So we really need to have data that suits multiple contexts Of course with the data you know we want to the data to meet requirements for standards You know in case countries want to have access to finance But we also need to really see beyond that and see how the country themselves Can use this data how you know decision-making can be improved with the better data So we eventually you know this date all needs to be Accessible relevant transparent and sustainable for it to actually have an impact So that brings me to the last slide is basically a summary of what we've managed before so let me not read this out But we just allow you to to go through this summary and I'll hand it back to Till Thank you so much. This was Marike with the FAO team. Thank you Now that's a bit of a sweeping overview. This is a big program and has it will target as many as 20 countries There's a five year duration. There's several million dollars of a budget She was able to cram this into 10 minutes chapeau Marike you have not shown this All right, this is a flyer about the info forest program. Did we have copies available in the room? They're down there Who after listening to us for 90 minutes about the new program is still curious? Can pick one of those can pick one of those it provides more details on everything that has been presented especially on Marike's presentation It's also nicely done. You should really have a look Okay, so Yes, look that was the overview of the of the program what it consists of in terms of outputs activities one of the key Outputs is concerned with country lat planning and that is what we are going to hear what next the country La planning is really the engine the engine of the program in order to identify Priorities at the country level and Ellie Reed will speak to us about this Thanks for in the introduction till good afternoon to all of you You've heard a lot about the aim for forest and we're kind of tuning it down and Marike did a really nice Overview it's a lot of work. So this Fiona and I'm going to present a much much From a different angle, let's say let's say this so before I go any further Good afternoon to all of you. My name is Ellie Pennevereed. I am the Geo for why country lat planning or CLP and Also family of resources specialists. I'm very very pleased to see all of you here I have worked with many of you over the years and I have seen Very few of you in person and this is amazing. I'm very happy that we're back to this it is it does make a difference and Before I go any further I would like to say that the work we've done We've been working for the past few months for those of you who were in DC in January No, we've worked on a concept note concept note that is shaping up pretty well But it's a work of my colleagues at you for why a Tom of course Peter Gaby and our colleague at FRO till so thanks to all of you for really working hard on this and this Presentation is really summary of that the concept note Till ask for 10 minutes, so I'm going to try to put it all in and I usually speak very fast But for your own sake and to Mask the Bulgarian accent. I will try to go a bit slower. So bear with me on that So what I will present today will be the context of what the CLP looks like or what we have envisioned so far and how Will we what we want to have? Tell you about it, then I will go and talk about the COP work in light of the country's national forest monitoring system and their national objectives As well as provide an overview of the COP process and give you really a quick glimpse of the key features And what we have identified and we'll then explain the COP process under the UK UK funded project aim for forest So I imagine that everybody in this room is quite aware of the context behind the national forest monitoring system or developing one But again, it's a comprehensive process not a simple one And I will read it because it's it's very well put sentence here that we all understand But once in a while I guess we have to remind ourselves that if we don't see those systems really In a point of being sustainable within countries is made because it's not that easy to achieve and was to work into as I go So the national forest monitoring is a comprehensive process that includes the assessment evaluation interpretation and reporting of data and The derivation of forest resources information usually from repeated inventories That allows for the monitoring of change and trends over time Another important point I would like to make is that countries Which are not always at the same stages of their national forest monitoring implementation Are facing multiple challenges multiple complexities and establishing these enabling environments to sustainable national forest monitoring system Right such as and we all know them But yet again clearly defined system governance and administrative procedures enough people really in those teams to sustain such system and then the appropriate equipment also Changing methodologies. We all know part of us are those who create those methodologies and they're ever changing and improving and then adequate annual budgeting And other non-technical resources being identified and the third point I'd like to make is that clear National objectives are required for the international communities who really be able to provide targeted support and Generate efficiency and also help the countries in meeting their ambitions and raising them further And another overview slide before I go to slide America already introduced and I'll walk you through that one is really the overview of the country-led planning process and The time I have really allows me to go through four points Which we carefully picked to be the ones that we would like to to talk to you today That's not all about that all there is to it, right? But in general the COP was initiated by Geo for why to build on Geo for wise experience of supporting countries over the years to develop more systematic approaches to assess their Technical and functional needs the second point I would like to make is that the potential for the COP modality was Recognized really for the aim for forest program and the COP is included is one of the six as Mariki presented Major outputs out with four of the program to be designed and then delivered by Geo for why and Geo for why partners The third point is under the COP process the country the countries will initiate will lead will coordinate Facilitate and also set the pace how fast or how slow this process will move would depend on the country and different countries apparently and will Expected will move at different pace They'll undertake consultation and analysis to design the functionality in the performance of the national forest monitoring system with elements of the MRB and Last point but not least important is the fact that the COP is Envision and represents really a continuous improvement through the circular process with the idea that we will have this long-term outlook and Planning for what we've heard over and over say, but we really need to emphasize this is an exit strategy and with that I Go to the the circular process. It's relatively simply organized here We try our best to we went through a few iterations and things to tell for that of saying not not not good enough Let's let's do a little better And so this is this might not be the last one, but this is where we are at this point So the COP is envisioned to work in a circular process with countries really interested in strengthening their functional And technical capacities and also interested in embedding the national forest monitoring system in the associated MRV procedures within their national institutions So the COP process will include assessing the necessary enabling Conditions for sustaining the country system Such as and their others as well met national budgetary allocation Human resources allocation legal requirements institutional arrangements and also administrative procedure for government programs The COP will also cover functional capacity in order to support the technical Capacity such as to establish really a functioning and sustainable national forest monitoring system and the initial And you'll see this on the following slide the initial cross-sectional national forest monitoring system context assessment will inform Capacity development in understanding really seen where is the window of opportunities and what could be done? How can we be helpful? another Table in the form of a flow chart really here that was much more simplified for the purpose of my talk today These are really the key features that we have envisioned to be part of the COP process Starting from left to right the COP workflow, which will include cross-sectoral national forest monitoring system context assessment Very briefly here because I will run out of time is that the cross-sectoral national forest monitoring System context assessment would really assess and map the national system planning and Administration funding governors, right? It's it's semi. It's it's pretty clear. We're not inventing the wheel here We're just putting in a more organized fashion The functional and technical gap assessment also pretty clear as a concept to here We'll have identifying needs to create or to improve the national system governance and to address technical requirements for carbon standards And the third element of the COP workflow is the improvement plan So we'll compile an overview of the steps that that address really thoroughly this capacity development And will be the basis for work planning The second key feature that you see here is the access to expertise. So and you see two Boxes underneath the expertise on governance So so to speak the function functional capacities and also the technical capacity and technical experts that countries will have Access to in order to support their forest monitoring and MRB the third key features are the COP workshops and This is actually through few iterations. We this is inception meetings at the beginning The during the exception Meetings and they'll be Institutional or functional experts as well as Texan go experts to discuss with a team a multidisciplinary team from the countries what the COP process or the workflow the timeline or deliverables will be or should be and Then you see regional workshops, which are envisioned to provide the opportunity for countries to Check on progress really go on exchange lessons for the other participating countries and also go and foster the south south collaboration that we've been talking throughout For a while now and the fourth element key feature here is the capacity development materials We all know that over the years a lot of materials have been developed and there's That's something no none of us want to do is usually the idea is to not start from ground zero But to step on shoulders of greatness So we will use and we will take advantage of the geophysic community this collective experience as you see here resources are listed and What has been gained like family of resources which by the way? All its members will be we'll have a session to launch it So I invite all of you to come you have also the country needs assessment that we will also have learned quite a bit from it many of the FO assessment tools and also the lessons learned through Collaboration with the World Bank and the FCPF fund will be all engaged into this capacity development materials Of course to that we will add over time and with that comes the Still in the very simplified fashion idea of what that the time looks like the timeline of this of this project and And and we are as I said still working on this so but to give you an idea just to walk you through the diagram here So Fiona mentioned to you as mentioned a few times already and for forest was launched in April this year We're planning to start with already implementing Some of the elements the key features that I mentioned to you such as the inception meetings as well as doing this Country context assessment and the idea of this is very ambitious plan I have to say this is to have this done by the end of this year the following year We organize the workshops that I mentioned in my talk Which will of course lead through the gap assessment both technical and functional gap assessment and create this Improvement plan with the long-term outlook throughout that this will be implemented and through improvements including support from FL and May mainly done by the geofo I team as you see again reinforces the circular process of COP we go to the next year you check on improvement You see what has been done and you do it again And this is the five-year timeline that it's set at this point And if you have many questions about this I wouldn't be surprised because it's a lot to Follow it once but I thought it's a good diagram to to give you an idea of how in a way this all will work together under the aim for forest program and Before I finish this is my last slide It's in a way Challenging our own Expertise and where we are so far, but if we don't we'll never move forward so to speak So the idea here is and I would expect to get questions especially from the countries is like Let's say we have countries that are participating in the in the geofo I COP process And here we have three different Categories of countries like some countries that will receive support under the aim for forest program Those who receive support from the geofo I geofo I partners and then what if we have countries who still need to mobilize support? What do we do? How do you address this and at this point? That is still an important element and that is something that we need to figure out. So let me finish with just saying that You can see that COP is still a process in progress So, please stay tuned, but we're very excited and hoping that you will all engage with us when we start Implementing this project and that's my last like. Thank you very much. This was Ellie Reed. Thank you very much so what Ellie spoke about really was the The engine of country engagement under this new program the CLP the country let planning process and What we hear about next is one of the modalities for it for for capacity development Of course, there's many with different modalities But there is one that has been particularly successful recently and Rocio will speak to us about this She will present the case of a Recent of a recent burning experience on sepal Which I think provides an example of how the aim for forest program will reach out and aim to develop impact Rocio over to you, please Thank you, Teal. Thanks to the organizers. Let me talk about the sepal online facilitated course foreseen under output one of the aim for forest project related to tools and platforms just presented by Marike The forest and land monitoring for climate action sepal course was facilitated from 24 March till 7 May Simultaneously in English Spanish and French It aimed to support knowledge and skill development for applying high-resolution Satellite imagery for forest and land monitoring and more specifically It focuses on how the sepal platform can support forest and land monitoring The course is composed of five models model one related to the institutionalization of forest data Model two introduces sepal and mother three four and five are more specific on topics related to MRV restoration and peatland The course was offered for free and Open to all interest in digital platforms and tools for forest and land monitoring Participants choose to either follow the entire course or a limited number of models Three learning paths were offered to them Based on the learning path and performance assessment Participants can either obtain a certificate of completion or a digital batch that certifies the competencies that choir Let me share some statistics with you After its launch just two weeks After the course was at its maximum capacity With more than 2300 participants registered The high demand for participation reflects the growing interest in forest and land monitoring Using freely available high-resolution satellite imagery Registered participants represented more than 150 countries from around the world with all regions well represented Making it truly a global initiative The course was drawn has drawn participants from universities research centers governments the private sector Non-governmental organizations and civil society with 34 percent of participants being women The percentage of active participants as of today is 57 percent that log on the platform at least once Let's give a look at the platform as Mentioned it was produced in English Spanish and French We have a right and a left-hand menu and by scrolling down you will find all five models Let's access one of them model one You can find the learning objectives a Support the area and a group of learning activities In the right-hand menu you find a series of informative tabs which help participants throughout the course at the end Participants took their graded test. You can move to the next model and at the end You can access the model that provides you The certificates of completion and your digital batch The course promoted an interactive approach through self-paced lessons cases studies videos discussion forum and online live-facilitated sessions This course was not just about learning new skills It was also about creating a community of professionals passionate about forest and land monitoring for climate action Participants had actually the chance to connect Share ideas and seek opportunities for networking and collaboration Before closing Let me buy Brenda Anicia Remote-sensing officer working at the National Forest Authority in Uganda to share with us her experience with the online course Brenda, I have the following questions for you to share with the audience How do you find the course and how is it relevant to your work? Thank you, Russia This course for me was very good Not for me alone, but for my colleagues as well in Uganda It was self-paced like you could take it at your own time you take it after work and it had different materials it had Documents PDF documents to follow it had live webinars even though you missed the webinars you could Find them on the platform and rewatch and you able to follow and also during the webinars You're not allowed to follow like even if you're not following what Eric is doing You can sit back watch and then you wait for your own time to practice So for me the course was very good and for my day-to-day work which which is about Producing activity data for rate plus this course is very helpful I can quickly generate information on forest change using the index change that I learned during this course and also Able to give an input to our decision makers for example For projects dealing with restoration. I learned about the C plan and so the input from my work can be Good for decision-making You very much Brenda and how do you think you will apply your what you learn in your professional area? Okay, I'm ready applying it. It wasn't my first time though to the platform But of course sepal has been changing every day almost the first time I got introduced to the platform was 2018 But it is never the same like if you last maybe used it in 2018 today You'd be so lost because it has changed. There are so many tools. So I think it is Something very good for us to have such courses. So so that we also get to know that different tools in there to see which ones we can apply and Yes Applying it. I think I've already explained to you. I do my work. I think from sepal. I stopped using that conventional Like softwares to do the processing because with sepal. I know that I don't have to worry about computing power. I don't have to worry about Internet going off because I know I have a session running Power blacking out is not a problem anymore. So thanks to the sepal team back then my colleagues say that Okay, those who are there before me that processes will take days like you run a segmentation for the country two weeks through Because you had to download an image you had to use your computer to do the processes and yet You don't have the best computing power. So I would also Request that the course is made open say those who didn't register for it can have a chance to register and be able to learn from it Thank you. Thank you very much for your feedback And if you all want to learn more on the integration of sepal into Uganda's forest national forest monitoring system Please check these cases study or getting contact with Brenda Let me close by thanking the participants in this course The course team that is together with me today in the front of in front of me the national forest monitoring thing More than 25 experts have been involved from different thematic areas and the fawee learning Academy If you are interested in taking the self-paced course or learning more about the sepal Follow the discussion on our social media channels Twitter link and in Facebook or visit our website or Contacas via email soon these scores will be open to all and available in the fawee learning Academy. Thank you Thank you very much This was rocio conter with support from Brenda Anicia. Thank you very much This concludes the the the presentations that we have and we can now discuss so please think about the The questions that you'd like to make and the interesting remarks that you have on these presentations We will admit both questions from the room obviously But then also online and I can see that the first questions are already coming in for those who are connected online Please please now is the moment to type in your question on the sun. We're sitting next to me We'll be able to read them out to the room. I Have the privilege to ask the first question But you please help me I will come I will start out with a question on the objective of the program and You know, then maybe there's other questions on the floor where you can contribute But I think what I can see from the chat is that there's already interest in speaking a bit more about the engagement Of countries of stakeholders in this program. So that could be a second block of issues to discuss But yes Let's speak about the objectives a bit further. I thought I turned to Fiona who was our first person I thought I turned to Fiona to and ask her to to speak a bit more about the objectives that the UK has here because the UK doesn't only support this program, but there's a whole portfolio of Activities that the UK supports among them for example an engagement in the carbon fund if I'm not mistaken The UK is part of the leaf program. There's a whole rep plus strategy I was going to invite Fiona to speak to us a little bit about how The engagement in the info forest program relates to the other pieces of engagement that the UK has in red plus Thanks Yes, so I think our kind of existing Support in international climate finance for red plus has been very much focused to date on incentivizing actions to reduce deforestation and through the provision of results-based finance so a lot of our kind of focus and efforts in support has been on phase three of red plus and One intended additional output for that is to generate high quality credits that can be transacted through carbon market mechanisms and so through initiatives like the leaf coalition But yeah, I think we're super mindful now that We kind of had a bit of a reassessment of the capacity gaps in the continued needs that countries Continue to face in actually realizing red plus results-based payments. So You know red plus is hugely complex and involves a multitude of different organizations and entities and lots of different moving parts and so our Previous kind of early expectations on timelines were definitely over ambitious and we're really mindful of the fact that you know The the support for building the enabling environment for red plus still remains and so definitely this Program is a part of that emphasis on red plus readiness and phase one and has this kind of yeah Dynamic in mind for not leaving countries behind I'm really seeing where we can support Countries to in the readiness capabilities and for kind of continued with plus implementation And I think also a really strong alignment with this program is the country-driven approach and we really want to be able to support countries to kind of give them the choices to the development of red plus programming and Kind of consider which red plus standard might be appropriate for them depending on their different contacts, you know We have this really standard agnostic approach And we want to be able to you know, yeah, tailor to the specific Interests and ambitions of different forest countries And you utilize the most appropriate high integrity standard And so yeah, there's just two big components of that And then yeah, I think another one is kind of the sustainability and transformational potential Which is a key driver for UK funding and so this program and the country-led planning process and having This emphasis on kind of the exit strategy planning is really beneficial for us as well Thank You Fiona Please please raise your hand in case you have questions from the floor I will have an immediate follow-up question. So Fiona spoke about high integrity and high quality credits. I Think that's a question from a Riki. What is a high quality credit? Unless there's someone else in the room dying to answer that question There's a comment there. Yeah, please add a comment. Why don't you please can you please say your name and who you work for? Hi, my name is Yosmeen main this the motor. I'm from University of Helsinki. Thank you for the presentation You have to speak louder and slower. Okay difficult So I just come across the same question about the high integrity and I also would like to know how much Is the conversation going with other organizations such as the SBTI the science-based Target initiative who also provide guidance then for the private sector in terms of high integrity MRV and the whole Credit of carbon systems. So No, thank you for that No, that's great. Let's let's get Marieke to quickly explain what an earth and high quality credit is and then Fiona can speak about the relationships the SBTI So there is no a really good answer to what is high integrity Carbon credit because it hasn't really been defined It's been also defined differently in different places, but it's a term that's being used a lot by emerging carbon standards And then especially the the jurisdictional standards Maybe I can summarize what those standards intend, but don't take this as a solid answer because There might be different answers to to what that actually is. I think what what what the term seeks to Indicate is that it is a credit that is is somewhat reliable robust Credible so it has to do with many different aspects Both about how the measurement is done has good practice being used for Assessing for measuring for the the emissions, but at the same time, you know what has good practice Does it exist being used for baseline setting and there of course? That's a bit of an open question. What is good practice there? But the standards come up with specific requirements, especially on the for example the reference period to use so Yeah, but there is not a overall agreed upon definition of high integrity Anyone in the room disagreeing? I know you have a question. Anyone disagrees with what Marieke just said No, one day it's it's here very quickly from Fiona whether she wants to comment on the SBTI and then we can ask answer Khalil's question Sure, yeah, thanks for the question and I think yeah, so SBTI and kind of other Mechanisms out there like we think about ICVCM as well and we've got the article six methodologies I'm coming up and also kind of expectations that under course. Yeah And there's all these different kind of mechanisms for kind of setting that expectation for what high integrity Standard or high integrity approach might look like and I think under this program We really want to ensure that we're kind of reflecting those as well helping countries to understand what that means And how we can harmonize that within kind of their own Implementation of these systems as well. So yeah very much on on our radar Thank you, Fiona Khalil Yeah, thanks very much. So if you could just say who you work for quickly for everyone. Sure. Yeah, Kalil Walgy C4E craft Yeah, I figured my questions the right timing since we're discussing contentious or Someone that ambiguous terms. I wanted to first say thank you very much to the panel. That was a very fascinating Panel discussion, but I wanted to ask about this word that I've seen throughout the presentation institutionalization Which I think Can be interpreted quite broadly or very differently. I mean personally when I think about it You understand to be this sort of embeddedness of a public institution the utility of this this institution a normative Structure and often the only major factor that's considered as leadership by the government But of course institutionalization has a much broader So sort of social theory and many different aspects So I did want to ask the team and I'm not sure who I should direct the question to But maybe you can just share where has institutionalization worked I think that can help kind of populate our idea of what are the key factors for where it works But on the contrary where hasn't worked And I asked that because I also imagine that helped in the team's thinking of which 20 countries would be targeted for this program Thanks. Thank you, Kalil Institutional embedding I'd really like to hear Ellie comment on this Maybe she can speak a bit about how the CLP process can help countries work towards that goal But yes institutional embedding as part of the holy grail really of what we try to achieve when we engage with countries And I think there was a second part to that question where you asked how the 20 countries will be identified We come to that later, but Ellie, please please try answer some of some of Khalil's questions Oh, and maybe we can hear from faith afterwards Maybe she could speak a bit about institutional embedding of the forest monitoring system in Kenya Maybe that would be useful, but Ellie over to you, please Interesting question, and I would say there's if we had the answer Then the CLP would not be needed because we don't have the answer, but that's what we're trying to figure out and From past experience, you know, it goes to really two basic things how we do this in general from We've done a lot of technical support we're now trying to do a lot more into functional support and helping and Clearing what is actually need exactly what you ask and what we've done so far is persistence and sustainability So those two elements will apply going forward We will work with countries part of the CLP process is exactly to let the countries identify their needs not to push them Is that here's what you need is what we're gonna give you and then deal with it? The question is not that the idea is that out of this as I mentioned the circular process that you have the assessment the context the cross-sectoral context assessment which then leads to to technical and functional gap assessments and at this point It's clear How this embedding can happen because with different countries that will be a different process It will not be fit for all the exactly the beauty of the CLP processes will take the country to lead it That means that it will be based on the Specific context the specific issues with each country and if one country will hear that about Kenya They're at certain level of of embedding the National Forest monitoring system with their government system And it's really at high level. Okay, that that fantastic some of the countries might not be so in that respect They'll need very little support from the CLP Where's others will need more and the process will move a different pace and with different level of commitments to what the Countries would want from us as a supporting factor here. So the answer again is not short It's not easy But the idea is that if it was easy we would have done it by now But the idea is that we will continue working directly with the countries let them lead and it will be the supporting element here to what could be added to that and working always with this Short-term long-term even outlook and providing some exit strategy that it really becomes sustainable System within the the government system of each country individually that participate in this process and then You had a second follow-up question. So I hope that kind of answered your rather complex question. Thanks Thank you very much. Ellie faith. Would you be able to say a few words about institutional? Contacts of the forest monitoring system in Kenya Okay, thank you very much Maybe this in context of the national forest monitoring system and institution arrangements Of course, it's usually a big challenge on where to house it and who manages it is However, we also look at the institutions and also their mandates what they're expecting to do in the government Let's say for example, we do of course definitely house it in the Ministry of Environment because that's where we have the environment Forestry and climate change. However, within the Ministry of Environment, we have state departments or forestry and climate change They have kind of overlapping roles. So who takes what role? So it's something that keep on evolving and changing and of course definitely under discussion each and every day When it's called maybe an activity in NFMS of forest inventory, we don't expect somebody from Agriculture to do a forest inventory. This is house in the Kenya Forest Service But however somebody in the opening the university will say we also deal with forestry. We want also want to be part of those institutions It's complicated. However, the countries have to make decisions every time changing and see what country I mean what institution does what in what aspect and what particular activity? Yeah, maybe that's Thank you very much. Thank you very much One more question institutionalization because it's something that we really have at heart I was going to speak a bit more about Capacity development modalities here. I was going to ask we're here to say a few more words about about what the what the merit really is on On that modality that you presented But then we also have Christina Petraca here who is the head of the capacity development at e-learning Academy that we have here And I'm just wondering whether she from her perspective can also say a few words about about You know the capacity development approaches that we have including in the FAO e-learning Academy and how those can contribute to capacity development including with with regards to to it working towards institutional uptake Of forest monitoring systems. We see is it better if you go first or should we ask Christina first to say a few words? Thank you, Teal, and I think I will Pass the word to Christina, but maybe just to to complement what I have presented before is the fact that We have gained some experience in the last years in delivering Global capacity development process through massive open online course, etc So I do believe that this is probably not the only way we can Support countries and I'm sure together with the FAO e-learning Academy. We will be able to deliver Different type of approaches and I will ask Christina Petraca to to tell us a bit more about how the blended approaches Can be delivered During aim for forest. Thank you Thank you. Thank you very much Neil and Rocío for this opportunity to provide a little bit more information about the FAO What the FAO e-learning Academy does? The first thing is that what we've noticed in years is that the more you diversify your delivery methods and your Pedagogical models and the higher is the impact that you have So the idea is really since each of us have different ways of learning and different preferences and schemas mental schemas to learn It's important to basically Diversify the methods and this is why we use different methodologies So we use for example mobile learning for audiences that are in very remote areas We use for example MOOCs, which are massive open online courses We use blended learning programs where we integrate Wikis and blogs where people have to also contribute To an entire project may be at national level, but we also organize. We also create Masters and post-graduate degrees with Universities worldwide What we've noticed is what is fundamental for a learning program to be successful is to really focus on the target Audiences what what are their roles what are their job tasks and from there? Design the the entire program based on the skills and the competences that they have to acquire So for us the analysis of the target audience is fundamental to understand What is the change that we want to see what are the competences that these professionals need to acquire and from there We design the courses the other I think Successful a factor that was mentioned by or see or also is The certification so what we are trying to do is to bridge the gap between formal and informal Education so we are trying to allow people in in the countries from wherever they are to acquire the Competences they need for sustainability so to be able in a flexible manner in a quick manner Acquire the competences that they need and we certify these competences Because the the courses are competency based and we also Assess their performance and the acquisition of the competences and when so that we have more time for other questions Yeah, yeah, once they have Once they succeed then they get a certificate of competences. Thank you very much. Thank you Chris I was concluding anyway No, because there's there's some very interesting questions in the chat that I want to get to but I also want to quickly ask Evan to say something who's been with this and if you would also say for everyone who you work for please Yeah, hi Evan not men Work with USAID and I'm the US lead for GFO. I want to start by just saying oh how pleased I am to Hear the announcement of this. I think it's fantastic to see additional resources and efforts coming into the broader GFI Effort that we have so I just want to say thank you for that and and also highlight. I think what has been really a collaborative and Really well thought out process in terms of understanding how a process can work with the broader GFI community To do work and I think one of those is really centered around the idea of the country-led Planning process and I think this is something that GFI has been discussing for quite a while coming out of really some of The capacity building workshops and recognizing some of the challenges and those include the challenges of some of the Institutional arrangements in coordination as well as comments that we heard repeatedly that Sometimes in our efforts to provide capacity building We're causing problems and that we need to be able to coordinate better and that the countries need to be able to have more ability to communicate clearly what are their needs and and how in a way that is Reaching across the GFI community so that they're getting support that they need in a less confusing way And then also the idea of you know, how do you effectively communicate what you're doing? That's important for assessment It's important for countries to kind of on that transparency side So with all that in mind, I also kind of wanted to ask you a little bit I think you know, we are all recognized that each country is going to be Unique and and want to engage in the process in a different way And I'm interested in thinking about how do you see the process working so that We all within the GFI community can participate and as you've highlighted I have opportunities to Support countries in the way that they feel are is most useful Thank you, Evan had I known you would say these things maybe we could have gotten you for the closing remarks and Well, that's excellent. Look, I will ask Julian to to respond to this But I'll also ask him to respond to the the golden question Which has just come in in the chat and I'm going to ask Alessandro to read it out for everyone, please from Zambia Yes, this is a question from Brian Natasha from the Forestry Department of Zambia He would like to find out the criteria for countries to participate in the aim for forest program So yes, join can you answer both of these questions? How are we going to engage with the GFI community and how will country selection be undertake? Yeah, I think building on Evans a very nice intervention. I think we've designed the CLP as a GFI activity So I see it as something the whole community. Hopefully can Can get behind and I think Relating to a specific question from a country for support I mean, I hope and we've seen some of the the approaches we can use to reach reach huge audiences in these days We've adapted due to something that was forced on us But I really hope through the CLP we can we can include many countries We can be really inclusive with a view that different support providers can then come in and support countries as as a core GFI Collaborative exercise and one thing I did I did notice was missing from your slide Ali was I mean You something like a UN red technical assistance. I see is another major delivery path for countries As we as we unroll the CLP will identify a lot of needs and then the big capacity Development partners that the silver carbons the UN red technical assistance can then Deliver support in a really coordinated way With support from the GFI office. So for me, it's a I See it has been really inclusive and I encourage everybody to to To join us and we have some beautiful flyers and QR cards on the on the front table. So any interested countries, please Our doors are open and and maybe maybe I would like to call on even Tom because I see this as something As a bit of a game changer for the whole community, you know, as Evan said really aligning all our support in a structured way Do you want me to respond to that quickly too? Thanks? I mean, you really should excellent. Thanks I mean, I I agree completely the whole I guess concept of the CLP is that there is a Process really for for countries themselves to be after it's called country-led planning a process for countries to be able to Pick up and run with for them to consider How to embed these systems within their own unique national institutions in a system that they know and understand The institutional arrangements and the biophysical conditions will vary from country to country We do want to I guess a globally generic Framework that that countries can then take and and adapt to their own unique circumstances and the great thing about this Community is if you know having the CLP as a GFI process is if the international partners can agree on that That's something they understand the countries can take that and adapt it to their own needs and then the plans and the outcomes that come from That will be something that Multiple development partners can see and we hope respond to And that will be a really key. I guess building block for further strengthening global coordination So very much. Thanks to the UK for for including this There's a bit of work still to do on scoping the CLP and we hope that many other partners can continue to get involved So it is something you know and understand and something you can continue to use over time And that when countries Start to participate in as well. It is something they can they can adapt to their own unique circumstances, but yeah Thank you. Thank you so much Tom Look time is up. I know there is this there's this further remarks, but time is up. Unfortunately Come to the reception. Let's continue speaking at the reception about all this for those who are connected online Where we haven't been able to answer all of the questions Alessandro post his email in the chat and then you can send him a message and then I promise we will respond But for us who are here. Thank you so much for participating. We will have closing remarks still Julian will you deliver those or is that something that Fiona will do? Well, I'll be very brief again just inviting you to join us and participate or I think this is a really exciting moment for the whole community and We can we can coordinate we can collaborate and yes and look forward to discussing after this and please I'll pass to Fiona who's actually was instrumental in Designing and and launching the entire program. So huge. Thanks to Fiona Thanks, Julian. Um, yeah, I don't I don't have much to add actually and yeah, I think just the emphasis again on collaboration And hopefully can speak to a few of you during this week Um, and yeah, thanks to FAO and jfy and and others for contributing to the development of this program as well All right. Thank you so much. Be reminded also. There is an FAO booth tomorrow. There's an opportunity to discuss more Thank you very much. This was um, this was the impoverished event