UN-REDD Launches New "UN-REDD Report" Series

In the UN-REDD Report entitled "Agricultural Expansion and Deforestation", authors Linda Rosengren (UN-REDD Programme) and Christina Seeberg-Elverfeldt (Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, FAO) compare the different factors contributing to deforestation in Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, and argue that agricultural expansion is one of the most important among them.

"Until now, income from the forestry sector was mainly derived by extracting timber and non-timber forest products and from converting the land to other uses such as pasture for cattle ranching or crop cultivation… for any REDD+ scheme to be successful, the different drivers of deforestation must be understood and addressed," write Rosengren and  Seeberg-Elverfeldt.

When designing national REDD+ strategies, policies, laws and action plans, the authors argue it is necessary to consider agricultural and rural development goals and use an integrated landscape approach.  "If policies are designed only at the forestry sector level, ignoring the different drivers of agricultural expansion, REDD+ policies will not be successful," write Rosengren and  Seeberg-Elverfeldt.

Download the full UN-REDD Report on "Agricultural Expansion and Deforestation" in English, French and Spanish.

About the UN-REDD Report series

The UN-REDD Report series will feature concise, in-depth four-page "think-pieces" designed to contribute to the ongoing debates and discussions on REDD+.  The UN-REDD Programme aims to produce 2-3 of these reports per year. The first UN-REDD Report, "Agricultural Expansion and Deforestation", is a joint report of the UN-REDD Programme and FAO's Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Programme.