World Bank's Competitive Agriculture Project for Moldova to be extended

Chisinau, 31 May /MOLDPRES/ - New activity and cooperation sectors between the Moldsilva Forestry Agency and the World Bank were considered at a working meeting today. The sides referred, in particular, to the extension of works within the Moldova Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement, backed by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and the World Bank.  

A chief environment specialist at the World Bank, Arcadie Capcelea, reiterated that the results of the impact of the activities of the component II of the project had been already achieved. “Forest protection belts have been rehabilitated, under ecological aspect (sequestration of carbon), as well as in the social, financial, economic context. Therefore, it is important that this project is extended for the next years, with the same concept, in all regions of Moldova which face problems of degrading of forest belts, especially those which belong to mayoralties,” the WB representative said.    

For his part, Moldsilva Agency director Ion Haralampov appreciated the project’s proposals. “It is beneficial and necessary to extend the component which sees the sustainable management of lands. We will contribute with works of arrangement and rehabilitation of forest belts, with the involvement of the Institute of Forest Researches and Arrangements and of forest enterprises,” the Moldsilva head noted.  

The cycle of financing on behalf of GEF for the next four years will start in July 2019. Moldova will get financing for such activity sectors as: sustainable management of lands, biodiversity, climate changes, global warming, etc.      

Contacted by MOLDPRES, Ion Haralampov said that the extension of the agriculture competitiveness project was quite necessary for the forest sector and not only. “We had positive results for local actors in the earlier stages; thus, interest is preserved for the works due to be carried out. Ideas of switch to technologies friendly to lands, which hinder the process of degrading, soils’ erosion, protection of forest belts, have become increasingly popular,” Haralampov added.    

The aforementioned project started in 2014 and will be finished in 2018. Within the project, the Moldsilva Agency benefited from forest technology worth 2.3 million dollars and subordinated entities have rehabilitated 2,250 ha of protection belts in the southern region of Moldova.

(Reporter L. Grubii, editor M. Jantovan)