Exploring Climate Justice for Forest Communities Engaging in REDD+: Experiences from Tanzania

Abstract

The last decade has seen a proliferation of initiatives and actors involved with promoting alternative solutions to the problems of climate change and poverty. One such initiative is the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD (+)) mechanism. The REDD (+) mechanism contains similar components to integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPS) and payment for environmental services (PES), where rewards for environmental conservation are supposed to bring co-benefits such as poverty reduction. However, there is little evidence to support this assumption. Instead studies suggest that pro-poor objectives within environmental policy deliver weak outcomes because they fail to acknowledge wider socio-economic contexts that hinder poor people from engaging in opportunities and accessing benefits. This article seeks to link climate justice at the international level with the local context focusing on the REDD (+) mechanism, looking at rights-based approaches and the issue of procedural and distributional justice. Using Ribot and Peluso's Access-theory (2003), the article explores justice and power relations in REDD (+) planning from a community perspective. The case study, Angai Village Land Forest Reserve (AVLFR) in south-eastern Tanzania, is a participatory forest management (PFM) area, currently under review to become a REDD (+) project site. The history of development intervention in Angai tells a story of donor dependency with limited participation by villagers. Our findings suggest that supporting local organisation, through capacity building and community networks, is a vital component of a more equitable and fair REDD climate change agreement.