Ivory Coast to appeal for $1bn reforestation strategy fund, minister says

Ivory Coast will call upon donors as well as timber and cocoa companies to help finance a reforestation strategy it estimates will cost 616 billion CFA francs ($1 billion) over 10 years, the water and forests minister said on Friday.

The West African nation has lost an average of 400,000 hectares of tropical forest annually since 1990. It is seeking to extend forest cover to 20 percent of its national territory by 2030, from 11 percent currently.