Giving REDD+ Life
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Income generated from REDD+ should be given to forest communities to invest in their future, recommends a new report by The Forests Dialogue (TFD). Investing locally in this way should be part of understanding REDD+ as integral to broader development among forest-dependent communities.
The new report Giving REDD+ Life, examines the relationship between Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) and broader development goals, and explores how and why the two should be integrated. The report is being launched as the advisory bodies for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meet in Bonn this week, and one month before the Rio+20 summit in Brazil—with “green economy” and financing high on the agendas of both meetings.
The wide-ranging report has other recommendations on REDD+ financing and distribution of benefits. It calls for donor agencies to do more to ensure that forest communities receive their share of REDD+ money, and for REDD+ to be linked with broader development funding to support local communities’ livelihoods and development efforts.
The report recommends that more research be done on reducing the costs of REDD+ interventions in countries in order for benefits to be maximized. The report also makes the case for more incentives to entice private-sector investment in REDD+ implementation, as it would improve the chances of local REDD+ work being sustained after donor money dries up.
Beyond the issues of financing and benefits, the Giving REDD+ Life report looks at key factors in getting REDD+ right for all involved parties, including those related to land tenure and governance of forests and forest resources.
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