Fwd: New Report Assesses Global Anti-Deforestation Measures
by Sheila Ward
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working Party:
Below is a new report from IUFRO on assessment of global anti-deforestation
measures.
Regards,
Sheila Ward
Associate Coordinator
IUFRO WP 1.02.04
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Wed, May 4, 2022 at 6:31 AM
Subject: New Report Assesses Global Anti-Deforestation Measures
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
<https://www.iufro.org/>
* International Union of Forest Research Organizations *
New Report Assesses a
*Comprehensive scientific report shows REDD+ progress and effects on
climate, nature and people*
[image: Photo showing Logs waiting to be transported in the Brazilian
Amazon. Photo by Nelson Grima, IUFRO/GFEP]
Logs waiting to be transported in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo by Nelson
Grima, IUFRO/GFEP
- Reducing deforestation and forest degradation and their associated
carbon emissions (REDD+) is part of the solution to climate change.
- However, the role that REDD+ plays in reducing these emissions, while
important, is limited given the magnitude of the problem and actions
required in other greenhouse gas emitting sectors.
- REDD+ implementation has the potential to deliver a range of benefits
beyond reducing carbon if environmental and social aspects receive adequate
attention.
- The performance of REDD+ could be improved considerably by reducing
the complexity of its governance and leveraging synergies with similar
global initiatives.
(Vienna, 4 May 2022) A major scientific assessment on REDD+ is published
today, evaluating the world's progress towards goals to reduce emissions
from deforestation and forest degradation. The report and policy brief,
prepared by the Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) Programme led by the
International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), analyses the
past 10 years of REDD+ implementation with respect to forest governance,
carbon measurements and effects on biodiversity and livelihoods. The
findings are presented in a webinar during the World Forestry Congress week.
One major conclusion is that while REDD+ has provided a convenient umbrella
for many forest and land use related activities aimed at reducing
deforestation and forest degradation – and associated greenhouse gas
emissions – the interlinkages and complexities of relationships between
forests, land use and climate are profound.
The report, which aims to inform ongoing policy discussions on the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, comes at a pivotal time: Human-induced
climate change and increases in extreme weather events are impacting nature
and people faster and more severely than had been expected 20 years ago.
However, there is still a chance to reverse this trend and avoid further
global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
This requires drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly
CO2, most of which stem from burning fossil fuels. Forests also play an
important role in the global carbon cycle: they absorb carbon as they grow
and emit carbon when they are destroyed. Every year nearly one-third of the
global carbon emissions produced by humans can be absorbed by forests, yet
deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for up to 10% of the
annual man-made CO2 emissions.
In addition, interest in forests as a 'nature-based solution' has probably
never been higher and the number of initiatives aimed at conserving,
sustainably managing and restoring forests has increased considerably.
"For example, there has been growing interest in forest landscape
restoration (FLR) since the launch of the Bonn Challenge in 2011. This and
other initiatives contribute to REDD+ but also overlap with it and often
create confusion among stakeholders. Optimizing synergies with them and
with other sectors is both a challenge and an opportunity," says IUFRO Task
Force Deputy Coordinator and environmental consultant Stephanie Mansourian,
one of the lead authors.
In addition to promoting forest protection and carbon sink enhancement, a
key focus of REDD+ is to move the scope of interventions beyond climate
impacts towards an integrated view of climate, biodiversity and
livelihoods. REDD+ can deliver numerous environmental benefits, including
reduced soil erosion, enhanced water quality and quantity, and increased
resilience to drought and floods. It can potentially deliver important
biodiversity benefits, although the availability of up-to-date biodiversity
data remains a major challenge. "Such benefits have significant economic
importance and may increase both the value of REDD+ programs and people's
willingness to engage with them. However, in the implementation of REDD+,
greater attention to biodiversity and livelihood outcomes is needed," says
lead author and IUFRO President John Parrotta of the USDA Forest Service.
Evidence from social evaluations of REDD+ interventions indicates that,
where direct and indirect benefits are clearly visible to local
stakeholders, and have been delivered, community engagement is strong and
projects have achieved positive carbon and social outcomes, at least in the
short term. Furthermore, explicit attention to rights and tenure issues
provides more transparent mechanisms for the reporting and monitoring of
environmental and social co-benefits, as well as better, more equitable
outcomes, particularly for more vulnerable communities. Case studies from
Indonesia show that insecure tenure can exacerbate distrust between
resource users and the government, and can keep local people from further
participating in REDD+ activities. Evidence from Latin America and the
Caribbean suggests that deforestation is lower in areas where Indigenous
and Tribal Peoples' collective land rights are recognized.
"Since 2012, implementation of REDD+ has advanced considerably in many
countries but ultimately it is REDD+ governance that determines its
performance. Yet, governance is distributed across a complex landscape of
institutions with different sources of authority and power dynamics that
influence its outcomes," says GFEP Programme Coordinator Christoph
Wildburger.
REDD+ is being applied in a wide diversity of contexts with an equally wide
diversity of governance strategies, which are changing over time. Brazil,
for example, was initially a leading global source of deforestation, then a
world leader in reducing deforestation, and is now experiencing rising
deforestation once again. While Brazil's federal government has played a
key role in these swings in deforestation rates, a number of Brazilian
states are pursuing their own REDD+ initiatives with positive outcomes.
Ghana, a relatively small country where deforestation has been strongly
linked to the production of cocoa for export, is pursuing the 'world's
first commodity-driven' REDD+ strategy with private sector investments in
'climate smart cocoa'. Both Brazil and Ghana illustrate the important role
that actors other than national governments may play in shaping REDD+, such
as sub-national state actors or private companies trading in forest risk
commodities like cocoa.
*Report and policy brief*: Download link
<https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/follow-up-studies/biodiversity-forest-ma…>
*Fact sheet: *Download link
<https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/follow-up-studies/biodiversity-forest-ma…>
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*Background: *
REDD+ is a global action plan to reduce emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation primarily in tropical and sub-tropical regions, where
the largest forest losses take place.
Initially created as "REDD" by the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change in 2007, the "+" was added in 2010 to include conservation
and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, and sustainable management of
forests.
REDD+ was conceived as a framework for high-income countries to pay low-
and middle- income countries for the conservation, sustainable management,
and restoration of their forests. This happens, for example, through
bilateral commitments such as those between Norway or Germany (currently
the largest contributors), and Brazil or Indonesia as major recipients.
Although experience to date from over 65 countries provides useful insights
into both challenges and lessons for the future of REDD+, determining the
actual effects of REDD+ on forests, biodiversity and people is hampered by
insufficient or inadequate measurement and reporting.
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The *International Union of Forest Research Organizations IUFRO
<https://www.iufro.org/>* is a world-wide organization devoted to forest
research and related sciences. Its members are research institutions,
universities, and individual scientists as well as decision-making
authorities and other stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees.
The IUFRO-led *Global Forest Expert Panels GFEP
<https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/>* Programme provides policymakers with
a stronger scientific basis for their decisions and policies related to the
contributions of forests to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
For more information, please contact: Gerda Wolfrum at +43-1-8770151-17 or
wolfrum(at)iufro.org
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