Forests for People

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activities chosen, the particular forests targeted and the measures

employed. Multiple benefits can be delivered at different scales;

some are primarily local, while others may be national or global.

The approaches taken to safeguard and enhance ecosystem services

and biodiversity in a REDD+ context will therefore vary amongst

countries and at different scales. If countries can integrate the need

to realize multiple benefits into planning at different spatial scales,

then REDD+ can both help to retain and enhance ecosystem serv-

ices and biodiversity, and increase human well-being and wealth

creation. For example, in Ecuador, the REDD+ planners view

multiple benefits as a cross-cutting element within the National

REDD+ Programme that will, amongst other things, contribute to

the long-term sustainability of REDD+ policies, by implementing a

‘high quality’ REDD+ mechanism that not only focuses on carbon

but also recognizes social and environmental additional benefits.

In Kenya, a voluntary REDD+ project (described elsewhere in this

article) has resulted in benefits for local communities living adja-

cent to the forested areas. Work has begun on initiatives around

safeguards compliance based on the principle of free, prior and

informed consent (see right) and identification of these multiple

benefits from REDD+ implementation.

Realizing the multiple benefits of REDD+

What then needs to be done? To start with, REDD+ activities appro-

priate to the national context need to be selected and located with a

view to optimizing a range of benefits. The next steps involve choos-

ing REDD+ measures to ensure that multiple benefits are realized.

This requires:

• Setting goals for multiple benefits, ranging from employment,

income and access and use rights to natural resources for people,

to ecosystem service provision and biodiversity conservation

• A clear understanding of the direct and underlying causes of

deforestation and forest degradation, from local to national

scales

• Estimation of the potential for reduced emissions, conservation

or enhancement of forest carbon stocks, and the possible

financial incentives for doing so

• Costed options for measures to address these causes without

doing harm to people or to the environment, including through

displacement of deforestation

• Costed options for measures for conservation, sustainable forest

management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks

• Land-use planning to balance the delivery of different multiple

benefits from REDD+, address trade-offs and identify areas in

which each costed option might usefully contribute

• National implementation of the UNFCCC guidance and

safeguards intended to promote benefits and reduce risks from

REDD+ and a system for providing information on how these are

being addressed and respected

• A system for monitoring forest carbon stock changes and

multiple benefits.

Different forests have different values, both in terms of the serv-

ices that they provide and the implementation and opportunity

costs of including them within a REDD+ initiative. Working with

individual countries, the UN-REDD Programme is helping to map

these values against potential carbon gains, both to increase aware-

ness of the potential for multiple benefits from REDD+ and to

directly support land-use planning. Future work includes scenario

development to identify and map the possible impacts

of different REDD+ policies at a national scale. This

includes both the impact of REDD+ and other land-

use plans on multiple benefits as well as the impacts of

prioritizing these benefits in REDD+ on other land-use

plans. This is part of the Programme’s support to coun-

tries as they seek to take into account the real costs of

alternative uses of forests, and to adequately address

who bears the costs of present or future changes in

uses, protecting the poor from negative impacts and

fostering national development.

The most relevant REDD+ activities depend on the

national situation. Where there are high levels of

deforestation, tackling this will be the top priority.

Approaches will range from investment in the agri-

cultural sector to increase productivity per hectare,

to clarification of land tenure rights and payments

for carbon stock management. In other countries,

deforestation may be minimal but the carbon stocks

of forests are being degraded through fire spreading

from adjacent agricultural areas, or by unsustain-

able timber harvesting. Approaches may range from

designation of REDD+ areas through zoning based

on spatial, social and economic analyses, the promo-

tion of efficient stoves to reduce demand for charcoal

or the application of reduced-impact logging to

reduce damage to residual stands and soils. Yet other

countries have small but stable forest areas and are

looking to afforest. The benefits resulting may vary

dramatically depending on the strategy adopted and

the tree species used.

The measures employed in

each circumstance need to be selected according to

the context, paying particular attention to the likely

social and environmental results.

REDD+ has the potential to deliver healthy forests

that provide multiple benefits for local people, national

economies and the global community. Thoughtful plan-

ning for these benefits is crucial if REDD+ is to live up

to its promise.

The principle of free, prior and informed consent

Safeguards are needed to ensure benefits can be

realized. These should be articulated to enable the

realization, planning and management of benefits as

well as risk mitigation of the processes and outcomes

that engaging in developing REDD+ can result in. United

Nations Agencies adhere to the provisions of the United

Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Translating these principles into action, the UN-REDD

Programme is engaging with local communities and

indigenous peoples in a process of consultation called

Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in order to

ensure that social principles are adhered to.

For example, In the Viet Nam UN-REDD Programme,

activities have begun to pilot FPIC in Lam Dong and Di Linh

districts. Workshops have been held at the local level and

communication materials explaining how this principle

works have been disseminated. Communities now

understand that they can make their own decisions about

whether to allow a project or activity to start. Information

sharing and dialogue is a key part of the process.