Indigenous and community groups have made a wish-list detailing how schemes that aim to reduce deforestation and forest degradation should work for those living in and amongst the forest.
In this article I wrote for Earth Island Journal earlier this year detailing the fatal flaws of the climate mitigation scheme known as REDD (for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), I quoted World Bank President Robert Zoellick as calling REDD, “the best chance, perhaps the last chance, to save the world’s forests.”
“The outcome on REDD safeguards is a step backwards from what was agreed in Cancun last year, which itself was far short of what could have been agreed in Copenhagen. The provisions for safeguards in forest conservation are being shredded”, says Raja Jarrah, CARE’s Senior Advisor on REDD.
"This is bad news for millions of indigenous people and local communities whose livelihoods depend on forests.”
Research related to tropical rainforests involves field-based data collection. Much of this information gathering takes place in territories occupied by indigenous and other forest-based communities. Members of these communities are often used as sources of information for a wide range of topics, including the local use of plants and animals, and conditions of soil, water and forests. This information is often referred to as indigenous or local knowledge.
Peruvian indigenous organizations along with the Forest Peoples Program, an international non-profit that defends the rights of native forest-dwelling peoples, said in a recent report that carbon emission reduction programs tied to the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD, a United Nations-led program, are hurting indigenous rights.
Coast Tsimshian Resources has signed a contract to sell 150,000 cubic metres of logs to Fujian Hijong Wood Industry Co. Ltd. of Putian, China.
Wayne Drury, Coast Tsimshian’s general manager, said of cutting and shipping the logs to fulfill the contract will provide work to support 150 families in B.C.’s northwest for almost one year.
The World Bank has said that it is no longer providing the National Toshaos Council (NTC) with the funds to educate Amerindians about the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
This was confirmed yesterday by Yvonne Pearson, who heads the NTC.
This is the first Forest Carbon Trust Fund in Nepal, and lessons learnt from this pilot project will be vital for understanding what kind of governance system will be required for implementing REDD+ at the national level when communities are actively involved in forest management. The project will also contribute to global learning on how to build the capacity of local stakeholders in implementing carbon offsets so that when a REDD policy is finally agreed upon, local communities will be in a position to make informed decisions.
While Asia’s rapid growth has lifted millions out of poverty, persistent pockets still remain in areas beyond the embrace of development.
Some 450 million people in Asia-Pacific live in and around forests, depending on them for subsistence, shelter and a way of life, which has been indigenous to their societies for generations. However, their status remains largely unacknowledged as governments retain administrative control over two-thirds of forestland in Asia.
While a number of researchers and organizations in the US and internationally have highlighted the potential impacts of mitigation efforts on tenure, there remains minimal information and best practice on how to practically address these issues at the field level. Emerging interventions to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhance forest carbon stocks (REDD+) pose potential opportunities and risks for the rights of rural populations in developing countries.
