ICIMOD opens office to monitor REDD

KATHMANDU: The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development today launched a Project Management Unit (PMU) in Kathmandu to coordinate and manage a project for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in community forests.

The four-year project (2009-2013) carries out demonstrations on developing a REDD payment mechanism and related activities with aiming to strengthen the capacity of civil societies to take part in the REDD process.

“REDD and REDD+ are global policies under the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

These policies, through incentive mechanisms, reward the forestry and land-use sector by paying for the conservation and maintenance of forest cover in an effort to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said a press release issued by ICIMOD.

Nepal has 1.2 m ha of community forest managed by over 15,000 community forest user groups. According to published figures, Nepal’s deforestation rate is around 1.6 per cent per annum, and REDD should be seen as an additional incentive for reducing deforestation and forest degradation and assisting communities in promoting sustainable management of forests. ICIMOD, with Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bio-resources and the Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal, is involved in this process.