Abstract
An initiative to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) was launched in December 2007 at the Bali Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), yet little progress has been made in Asia in developing certified REDD projects, especially those that engage forest-dependent people. According to UNFCCC, REDD is a multilevel activity that involves both national policy and structures, as well as subnational projects involving local communities [1]. While many Asian nations are trying to create frameworks that link the national strategy to sub-national projects, in India this formal integration has yet to take place. As a consequence projects like the Khasi Hills Community REDD+ project fall outside the UNFCCC strategy and operate under voluntary standards (Plan Vivo) and markets. The project involves both avoided deforestation and reforestation components. The project is being implemented by a federation of ten Khasi tribal kingdoms, a major ethnolinguistic group in the Indian state of Meghalaya. Project experience may provide guidance regarding actions required to create a more enabling environment for community forest carbon projects in Asia. These findings may better inform the December 2015 21st UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Paris as they again address REDD strategy. The experience of this Khasi Federation [2] in designing and implementing a REDD project has led to the emergence of a modernizing forest management system that is helping to conserve and restore the Khasi’s ancestral forests. Learning from this REDD project also illustrates the barriers that the Khasi communities have faced, including those imposed by national governments, certifiers, and carbon markets, that will likely constrain the expansion and replication of community-based climate initiatives. The author suggests some alternative policies and systems that may enable greater community participation in REDD projects.
Highlights
Global concern over climate change has grown as empirical evidence mounts regarding increasing levels of atmospheric carbon that are contributing to a warming global climate, rising sea levels, and increasingly erratic climatic patterns
The Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) project design built upon on a four-year demonstration pilot project (2005–2009) initiated by Community Forestry International (CFI) that explored the effectiveness of forest protection and Payment for Environmental Services (PES) mechanisms operating in two communities in reversing forest loss and improving livelihoods
The questions are: (1) Can indigenous groups and their institutions arrest or slow down processes of deforestation, in a context characterized by rapid change? (2) Can a PES scheme under REDD serve as a catalyst in context like the one described, enabling indigenous groups to conserve and benefit from their forests? (3) What constraints put at risk the successful and sustainable involvement of these indigenous groups in the conservation of their forests? and, (4) What conditions contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for the successful implementation of community REDD schemes?
Summary
Global concern over climate change has grown as empirical evidence mounts regarding increasing levels of atmospheric carbon that are contributing to a warming global climate, rising sea levels, and increasingly erratic climatic patterns. Many NGOs remain skeptical concerning the likelihood that forest-dependent peoples will be able to benefit from REDD initiatives In part this skepticism early experiences that suggest REDD will be controlled by national governments, corporate project developers, brokers, and carbon buyers, while communities will see little benefit and may even lose control over community forest lands. These concerns are warranted as the issues mentioned above are prevalent within the Asia region. The Khasi Hills Community REDD Project was initiated to explore whether a group of forest-dependent communities could develop a successful REDD type project that could be certified under international standards and be used to finance conservation and restoration activities. ‚ What conditions contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for the successful implementation of community REDD schemes?
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