Forests for People

[

] 72

Multiple benefits from REDD+

Wahida Patwa Shah, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya and Lera Miles,

United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

educing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest

Degradation (REDD) is an effort under the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC) to create a financial value for the carbon stored in

forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce

emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths

to sustainable development. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation

and forest degradation and includes the roles played by conser-

vation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of

forest carbon stocks.

Under the UNFCCC, countries have agreed that deep cuts in green-

house gas emissions are urgently required, to hold the increase in

global average temperature below 2° C as compared to pre-industrial

levels. The overall objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize green-

house gas concentrations in order to prevent dangerous interference

with the climate system, within a time frame that would enable

ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change and

avoid threats to both food production and economic

development. Deforestation and forest degradation

(resulting for example from agricultural expansion,

infrastructure development, destructive logging and

fires) account for around 15 per cent of global green-

house gas emissions.

Reducing emissions from forest

loss and degradation is therefore a key part of the

solution. Supporting conservation and sustainable

management of forests will also contribute to climate

change mitigation, by further enhancing carbon stocks

and reducing the scope for leakage

of deforestation

pressure to other forests.

Increasing the range of benefits

The advantage of REDD+, in comparison with many

other mitigation measures, is that it is capable of

Non-timber forest products from central Africa: the development of value chains for

these products can help to ensure increased revenue for local producers/groups

based on sustainable production, value addition and commercialization and skills

enhancement

Tracking mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda: one

of the benefits of avoiding deforestation may be the development of

ecotourism opportunities that allow local people to own and manage

lodging facilities, for example, or to be hired in the tourism industry

Image: Ravi Prabhu

Image: Aliya Shah