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Volume
19 – May 2012
News
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SBSTTA
16 recommendations to COP 11 on REDD+ and Biodiversity
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific,
Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), at its sixteenth session
held in Montreal, 30 April to 5 May, adopted a recommendation regarding
REDD+ biodiversity safeguards, and possible indicators to measure
impacts of REDD+ on biodiversity and indigenous and local communities.
More: http://www.cbd.int/sbstta16/in-session/.
High-Biodiversity
REDD+: Operationalising safeguards and delivering environmental
co-benefits
SNV-the Netherlands Development
Organisation’s work on REDD+ co-benefits strives to support governments
and civil society actors to move beyond minimum safeguard compliance to
achieving higher standards of social and environmental performance. SNV
has identified a range of options for implementing the UNFCCC Cancun
safeguards and contributing to meeting the relevant Aichi Targets (5,
7, 11, 14, and 15) under the CBD. See the full
technical paper and summary guidelines, and the
policy
brief (with IIED).
REDD+
and biodiversity initiative in India
The
Western Ghats is a global biodiversity hotspot where 74 percent of
existing forests remain outside protected areas. The lack of economic
opportunities for most landowners is a major driver behind deforestation
and biodiversity loss in this region. An incentive-based mechanism for
private land conservation implemented successfully by conservation NGO-
Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) in the north Western
Ghats leads the way for REDD+ Biodiversity initiatives in India. For
more information: http://myforest.co.in/Redd+biodiversity-Western%20Ghats-AERF.pdf
Launch
of the Geo-Wiki Project
 The
Geo-Wiki Project is a global network of
volunteers who wish to help improve the quality of global land cover
maps. Volunteers are asked to review hotspot maps of global land cover
disagreement and determine, based on what they actually see in Google
Earth and their local knowledge, if the land cover maps are correct or
incorrect. Their input is recorded in a database, along with uploaded
photos, to be used in the future for the creation of a new and improved
global land cover map. For more information: http://www.geo-wiki.org/login.php?ReturnUrl=/index.php.
FRA
User Survey
The Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and its national, regional and international partners are now
working on the development of the 2015 Global Forest Resources
Assessment (FRA). In order to produce the best quality results, a
survey is being undertaken to better understand the needs of users, as
well as potential users of the data. The survey results will be used to
help enhance the content, format and dissemination of the FRA.The
survey can be accessed through the following links in English,
French,
and
Spanish.
Blogging
series from the frontlines of Amazon deforestation
Brazil-based
forest carbon specialist for The Nature Conservancy, Rane Cortez, is
blogging a series of posts for National
Geographic News Watch about her work meeting with farmers,
local
officials, and indigenous
peoples in the sprawling ranching community of São Felix do
Xingu on the Amazon frontier. More
on Planet Change.
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| Publications
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Assessing
REDD+ performance of countries with low monitoring capacities: the
matrix approach
An article by Bucki M. et al., in the
journal Environmental Research Letters, presents an approach consisting
of a binary stratification of forests biomes, a transition matrix and
the use of default carbon stock change factors that can then be used to
provide initial estimates of trends in emission changes. A
proof-of-concept is provided for one biome of the Democratic Republic
of the Congo over a virtual commitment period (2005–2010). The authors
propose that this approach could allow assessment of the performance of
the five REDD+ activities (deforestation, degradation, conservation,
management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) in a spatially
explicit, verifiable manner. The full article is accessible at: http://stacks.iop.org/1748-9326/7/014031
Biodiversity
and Climate Change Adaptation in Australia
A paper by Trevor Booth in the new
journal ‘Advances in Climate Change Research’ describes strategy and
research developments in Australia in relation to biodiversity and
climate change. The paper is downloadable from: http://www.climatechange.cn/
Designing
REDD+ Schemes to Address Permanence Concerns: Empirical Evidence from
Kenya
This study, by Veronesi, M. et al.,
tests and compares the impact of different REDD+ payment schemes in the
field, and provide some insights on the effectiveness of different
policies with respect to the permanence of forest-based emission
reductions. This study implements a stated preference experiment of
time allocation in the unique setting of the Kasigau Corridor REDD+
Project in Kenya. The working paper is available at: http://dse.univr.it/workingpapers/2012WP15VeronesiSchlondornZabelEngel.pdf
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| Training
Tools
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A number of training tools for REDD+ have been developed. Below are
some useful links:
Introductory Course on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation and Conserving and Enhancing Forest Carbon Stocks (REDD+): http://www.conservationtraining.org/course/category.php?id=9
RECOFTC Training Course Catalog: http://www.recoftc.org/site/Training-Courses-Catalog
How
can you publish in this Newsletter?
Your
contributions to
this Newsletter on issues related to biodiversity
aspects of REDD-plus are welcome. Please send your submission to
redd@cbd.int.
Articles should contain no more than 60 words, and must
contain a hyperlink for more information. Deadline to submit
articles for the next issue: 10 July 2012.
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The
aim of this e-Newsletter
is to inform CBD National Focal Points and CBD partners about
biodiversity aspects in relation to reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation,
sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon
stocks in developing countries (REDD+).
To subscribe, please visit http://www.cbd.int/forest/redd/newsletters/.
This
newsletter is published pursuant to CBD decision IX/5. The views
expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of
the Secretariat of the CBD.
Photo credits (from top to bottom): Flickr creative commons:
wildxplorer, deacon, Fee as I Can Be, Sushant Jadhav
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Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
413, Saint Jacques Street, suite 800, Montreal QC H2Y 1N9, Canada. Ph
+1 514 288 2220 |
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