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
12
3
4
5
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.
Funding has
totaled
US$6.27
billion thus
far. That’s a far
cry from what
the U.N. says
is needed
to combat
climate change.