When reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) was first introduced as a financial mechanism to curb deforestation, the focus was mainly on scientific solutions. In most countries, the REDD strategy processes and discussions were led by a technocratic approach of the issue, leaving out local – often indigenous – populations living in and off the forest. Closely implicating local communities in the management of the forests in which they live is not only a matter of respecting their human rights: it is intrinsically linked to the human development of the concerned region and the preservation of the forest environment itself. Indeed, an official and systematized participation from forest-dependant communities in curbing deforestation at all levels of the process – from planning, through decision making and finally to implementation – would prevent these communities from falling into poverty and at the same time ensure the sustainability of the forest.

 

When implemented successfully, REDD also represents a new source of income to a government. Transparent and accountable governance has become widely accepted as one of the critical aspects for the delivery of results within REDD. In this context, strengthening governance structures through participatory governance assessments can bring an efficient solution to bridge technocracy with community participation, and act as an inclusive policy-feeding process and a tool for a forest country to become “REDD ready”.

 

The collaboration between UN-REDD (the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) and the OGC started in mid-2009, after UN-REDD presented its plan to build a forest governance assessment framework based on UNDP’s approach to country-led governance assessments developed by the OGC[1]. This joint work aims to design participatory governance assessments dealing with the complex inherent challenges a country faces when embarking on implementing its REDD+ strategy – with a country-specific approach.

 

In 2010, this UN-REDD/OGC cooperation has become more concrete, with the implementation of significant preparatory steps to this ambitious enterprise. These include: the participation of OGC in several multi-stakeholder REDD+ meetings and conferences at the global level, including meetings in London in May and in Bonn in August (for more information on these meetings please see www.un-redd.org), where the participatory governance assessments approach to REDD+ was promoted; the development of three joint papers:  a short discussion note on democratic governance assessments for REDD+ as a basis for discussions in meetings with partners, a more general paper on Supporting Effective and Inclusive National Systems of Governance for REDD+, and a proposal for Country-Led Governance Assessments & Support Services for REDD+ for 2010-2015; and finally the recruitment of an UN-REDD-funded Programme Officer based in OGC. Immediate plans for the first half of 2011 are to pilot participatory governance assessments for REDD+ in three forest countries.

 

For more information, contact tina.hageberg@undp.org.

 

Photo: Danae Issa