Yam Malla, Executive Director Chandra Silori, Coordinator, Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD in Asia Regan Suzuki, Coordinator, REDD-net Asia Pacific Nguyen Quang Tan, Country Program Coordinator, Vietnam Asia Regional Workshop on REDD-plus after Cancun: Moving from Negotiation to Implementation Building REDD-plus Policy Capacity for Developing Country Negotiators and Land Managers IISD, ASB-ICRAF, Norad and MARD Hanoi, May 2011 RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests Bangkok, Thailand

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests Independent not-for-profit international organization Strategically positioned between organizations that are responsible for field implementation of activities and those responsible for research that generates empirically-based knowledge

Local and indigenous people hold the key to healthier and better management of forests VISION: Local communities in the Asia-Pacific region are actively involved in the equitable and ecologically sustainable management of forest landscapes MISSION: To enhance capacities at all levels to assist people of the Asia- Pacific region to develop CF and manage forest resources for optimum social, economic and environmental benefits

Core Functions - Capacity Building Advocacy Networks Training Advisory Services Action Research

Target Audience and Approach Beneficiaries: local people, esp. poorer households in and around forests Strengthening capacities of concerned stakeholders at all levels Working with partners and collaborators Developing accessible, flexible, dynamic capacity-building tools Addressing practical needs Using local language Simplifying complex ideas

Geographical and Thematic Focus Asia-Pacific region (> 20 countries) 6 focal countries Four thematic areas People, Forest & Climate Change Expanding Community Forestry Livelihoods & Market Access Conflict Management Three guiding principles Clear and stronger rights Good governance Fair share of benefits Cross-Cutting Issues Gender and equity Environmental sustainability

People, Forests and Climate Change REDD+ Related Initiatives Community Forestry—a key strategy for addressing climate change and forest related issues (mitigation & adaptation) ° Analysis of policies and lessons from field implementation ° Using the knowledge/information for sharing and discussion at local, national, international meetings, conferences and workshops ° Disseminating knowledge through publications and other channels ° Incorporating new knowledge from own and other people’s work in capacity-building products and services REDD+ Initiatives ° Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD in Asia-Pacific ° REDD-net Asia-Pacific ° REDD Learning Network ° ASEAN-RECOFTC-Swiss Partnership on SF and CC ° ForInfo

Safeguards and Free, Prior and Informed Consent REDD and other CC-Forest Initiatives ° Whose perspective? Whose agenda? ° How do different stakeholders view REDD+ and why? What policy implications? ° One possible negative outcome is re-centralization of forest management – thereby undermining:  CF’s three decades of achievements  Forest rights and benefits Safeguards for what? What is FPIC and why? ° Areas with supportive policy framework  Realizing the forest rights and benefits ° Areas with no supportive policy framework  Focusing on policy and institutional reforms ° Various indigenous groups are proactively developing IP sensitive MRV processes and safeguards to ensure IP rights are upheld

9 Training and capacity building activities ( ) 64 trainings delivered Over 2,000 participants involved (over 800 females) 20 countries covered

Example 1: Grassroots capacity building for REDD+ in Asia Pilot trainings in 5 countries National programs in 4 countries – Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos and Nepal ° Training of trainers ° Awareness raising ° Material development ° Engaging local media Local language delivery of training programmes ToT Manual developed in Nepali, Laotian and Bahasa Indonesia languages

Example 2: Action Research Back up theories with practical evidence Local-level mitigation and adaptation Demonstrate, analyze and synthesize tools Forest restoration, data generation, incentives, alternative livelihoods 25+ analytical outputs Policy briefs (6) Media briefs (3) Resear. article (10+) Resear. reports (5) Interactive bibliography & blog (1 each)

Example 3: Strengthening Regional Networks REDD-net Asia-Pacific Bridge b/w global and national networks, facilitate constructive dialogue and harness enhanced interest in forest sector REDD+ through the civil society lens ° Supports Southern civil societies in promoting the interests of local people in REDD+ dealings Knowledge-sharing platform ° Sharing of knowledge, analysis, and tools to foster a better understanding of how REDD+ initiatives can address local needs Regional and global bulletins: Key themes ° Equity in REDD+ ° Trust in REDD+ ° Carbon Rights ° Benefit Sharing, Gender, Adaptation, Conflict, Opportunity costs

Example 4: Strengthening Regional Networks REDD Learning Network RECOFTC leads the Network in eight countries as part of our work under the RAFT program Key stakeholders are informed on latest REDD+ issues Contributes to the development of national REDD+ scheme ° reduce poverty ° strengthen the rights of local people Decoding REDD Workshop Series

Example 4: Strengthening Regional Networks REDD Learning Network (cont…) Engaging media - Development of REDD+ Media Pack ° Media brief on an overview of REDD+ ° REDD decoding publications ° Carbon, conflict and communities Press Conference at the UN Climate Change Talks in Tianjin, China ° Over 20 Chinese and international journalists Media Training Workshop ° 12 journalists from South and East Asian countries, including 8 RAFT countries

Example 5: Advisory Services Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in REDD+ UN-REDD ° FPIC evaluation and verification toolkit developed with Asia- Pacific IG and FPIC experts for UN-REDD global program Evaluation of FPIC processes using toolkit for UN-REDD Vietnam country program GIZ – Guidelines for FPIC applications

Way forward … future action research focus How social safeguards are defined and applied under different socioeconomic and cultural settings? Role of indigenous knowledge ° Identify significant opportunities, constraints, and risks for adaptation and mitigation What are risks and opportunities—will REDD-plus escalate conflict in forestry sector? How to ensure equitable access to and benefit sharing from carbon trade What is the cost of REDD+

Way forward … future policy focus Develop policies on safeguards including roles of local communities in the FPIC process Review and learn from existing policies on safeguards—FPIC in Philippines, various certification systems Create conducive policy environment for good governance and stronger and clear forest rights of local communities Mechanism to avoid dilution or misinterpretation of safeguards by participating countries

Conclusion Climate change-related forest strategies can succeed when they complement, rather then conflict with, the forest peoples interests Community Forestry: ° Offers a basket of robust social safeguards ° Helps building resilience and social and natural capital for local communities ° Ensures both biodiversity conservation and social safeguards Community Forestry is a robust model to approach the current question of REDD+ implementation

Website: Thank You! Healthy forests… local people hold the key