UNEP Environmental and Social Impact Assessment in the Gambia
In 2020-2021, Knut was contracted by UN Environment (UNEP) to undertake a full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of a large-scale tree planting project funded by the Green Climate Facility (GCF), and managed by the Gambian government. The project, “Large-scale Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) in the Gambia: Developing a climate-resilient, natural resource-based economy”, is the largest natural-resource development project to help the country adapt to climate change. The project aims at restoring and rehabilitating some 10,000 hectares of forests, protected areas, wildlife areas and farmland, all of which are affected by rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and deforestation. A total of 11,550 Gambian households are intended as direct beneficiaries, and 46,200 households indirectly, in four regions along the Gambia River.
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Knut was team leader for an international team of experts developing the ESIA along with the management plan to UNEP and the Gambian government. It was a highly complex process, entailing fieldwork in some 40 locations in the Gambian countryside and broad consultations with government, private sector, and civil society.
