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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif";color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif";color:blue'>---------------------------------------------- </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif";color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)” is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce carbon emissions from forested lands and to invest in a sustainable low-carbon development supported by the United Nations (</span><a href="http://www.un-redd.org"><span lang=EN-US>http://www.un-redd.org</span></a><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>). Several African countries evaluated REDD+ as a valuable mechanism for sustainable development and have already established initial schemes at forestry related national ministries. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>A major limitation for a successful and sustainable implementation of REDD+ in many African countries is the lack of technical capacity required to establish a REDD readiness program. RCMRD in partnership with RapidEye (<a href="http://www.rapideye">www.rapideye</a>), one of the leading satellite imagery providers seeks to strengthen these efforts to enable national authorities to improve existing capabilities to carry out IPCC compliant carbon stock assessments while also support the implementation of a national REDD+ Measurement, Reporting & Verification (MRV) system.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>RapidEye imagery has been successfully used globally in the scope of many REDD initiatives (</span><a href="http://www.rapideye.com/upload/RE_REDD.pdf"><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>http://www.rapideye.com/upload/RE_REDD.pdf</span></a><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:black'>Please see concept note as attached. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-GB'><br><br>__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 8205 (20130408) __________<br><br>The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.<br><br><a href="http://www.eset.com">http://www.eset.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>