PM Network - September 2014

REDD+ approach can usher in models of governance and equity that would build a better forest economy that includes all stakeholders. It’s “an opportunity … to pursue a more sustainable development pathway,” Mr. Steiner said in a statement.

Complications on the Ground

;e REDD approach has been slow to catch on.

Funding from bilateral and multilateral organizations (the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and the World Bank, for example), along with private investments and donations, has totaled US$6.27 billion thus far.

;at’s a far cry from what the U.N. says is needed to combat climate change. And much of the committed funds have not yet been spent.

Still, hundreds of projects are underway around
the world. For example, the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) is a partner in a US$28.5 million project to
preserve forests in three Indonesian districts. Zul-
;ra Warta, REDD+ project coordinator at WWF-
Indonesia, says the initiative funded by USAID
ensures investment in e;orts to sustainably man-
age these forests and that local community groups
have helped develop strategies.

Other projects have been slowed by landownership disputes or have faced charges of fund mismanagement and exclusion of indigenous communities. In Nepal, a four-year, US$300,000 pilot project developed a REDD+ infrastructure but local forest communities did not reap signi;cant bene;ts, according to a study published in 2014 in the Journal of Environmental Management. Still, in April a Carbon Fund meeting organized by the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility committed up to US$70 million for a ;ve-year project to scale up the country’s REDD+ initiatives beginning next year.

SEEING REDD
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5 PERU

Project: For this U.N.-funded project, the Peruvian government held eight workshops that brought together more than 400 indigenous leaders from over 80 organizations to exchange ideas about implementing the REDD+ approach. Schedule: 2012-2013 Budget: US$295,150 Lesson Learned: Communication efforts attempting to explain and build support for REDD+ projects must be sensitive to the socio-cultural context of Peru’s indigenous communities. These groups have called for more clarity about which national and international organizations are funding projects.

1 ACRE, BRAZIL Project: The state is implementing a REDD+ law to support a project that provides funding and technical training to small-scale producers in return for their agreement to maintain forestland.

Schedule:

2010-2018

Budget: BRL50 million

Lesson Learned:

Engaging multiple stakeholders supports a sustainable outcome. This project was reviewed by dozens of local and global groups, rural producers, farmers and indigenous leaders. “The final law reflected a more diverse perspective and could more adeptly meet the needs of each of the players,” the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says.

2 INDONESIA

Project: The U.S. and Indonesian governments partnered with WWF-Indonesia and The Nature Conservancy to protect threatened forests in three districts on the island of Kalimantan.

Schedule:

2011-2019

Budget: US$28.5 million (made available through U.S. debt forgiveness)

Lesson Learned:

Direct engagement with civil society groups designed to foster trust and local ownership are key to success.

3 NEPAL

Project: In a pilot project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, a consortium of three agencies created a Forest Carbon Trust Fund to develop an incentive payment system to manage Nepal’s forests through local community groups.

Schedule: 2009-2013

Budget: US$300,000

Lesson Learned: Ensuring local communities benefit from well-intentioned REDD+ projects is difficult, according to a 2014 study—a lesson the World Bank may have in mind as it scales up the pilot through a project beginning in

2015 and worth as much as US$70 million.

4 PANAMA

Project: An examination of Panama’s ability to conserve forest resources and increase forest cover through REDD+ mechanisms Schedule: 2010-2015 Budget: US$5.3 million Lesson Learned: The project was briefly suspended in 2013 when the U.N. REDD program investigated allegations that the rights of indigenous people were not being respected. Stakeholders were brought together to resolve issues. “We better understand the perspectives of indigenous peoples,” Gerardo González, director of basins for Panama’s National Environmental Authority, said after the project was restarted in December 2013.