Project

Burkina Faso Technical Assistance and Capacity Building to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Funder: The World Bank

Project Timeline: October 13, 2025 - September 30, 2026

Program Areas: Ecosystem Services, Environment & Climate, Climate Finance and Forestry & Natural Resource Management

Contact: Julie Nash, julie.nash@winrock.org

Burkina Faso is taking bold steps to combat deforestation and land degradation, which threaten ecosystems, agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods. Building on its long-standing commitment to sustainable land and forest management, the country is advancing a large-scale program to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

This effort aims to generate verified emission reduction and removal credits under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) standard, known as TREES, to ensure transparency and credibility in carbon credit generation, enabling Burkina Faso to access results-based payments and scale up investments in landscape restoration and governance. These efforts are critical for addressing drivers of deforestation — such as unsustainable farming and wood fuel dependence — while promoting sustainable development.

Winrock International, with deep expertise in carbon markets and REDD+ readiness, is supporting Burkina Faso’s Permanent Secretariat for REDD+ in meeting TREES requirements. Through this World Bank-funded project, Winrock will provide French-language technical assistance and capacity building, including readiness assessments and guidance in drafting key certification documents such as the TREES Registration Document and Monitoring Report. Winrock also will deliver training to prepare national teams for validation and verification audits and help establish institutional frameworks for effective carbon governance. These efforts will position Burkina Faso to leverage carbon finance for climate action and sustainable livelihoods.