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REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays
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REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2016) | Viewed by 170311

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Esteve Corbera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Dr. Heike Schroeder

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests (REDD+), has become a reference framework for national forest governance across many tropical and sub-tropical forest countries. These countries have used funds from multilateral and bilateral aid platforms to re-organize their forest policy management and conservation programs around the idea of mitigating climate change, including the development of carbon accounting protocols and national REDD+ strategies.

REDD+ has become a powerful idea that has been mobilized by international conservation organizations and mainstreamed across the tropics through small-scale project activities, in order to capture the economic value of any resulting land-use emission reductions, mostly through voluntary carbon markets.

Research looking at REDD+ developments at both policy and practical levels, including critical inquiries of REDD+ countries’ strategies and on-the-ground project realities, has increased exponentially in recent years. This Special Issue aims to attract new evidence about three specific dimensions of REDD+ design and implementation that, in the view of the Guest Editors, remain both important and under-explored:

  • Politics of REDD+ design and implementation

The issue welcomes articles about how governments are designing REDD+ strategies, and how different government and non-governmental actors are being involved in such discussions, and why or why not. Discourse analyses of REDD+ in host countries, including which rationales, views and values are being contested and constructed in the design of REDD+ national strategies, and how are conflicts mediated or coordination across actors pursued, are encouraged. Articles looking specifically at anti-REDD+ social movements and their success in influencing REDD+ design or halting implementation are also welcome.

  • Interplays between REDD+ and other policy sectors

The issue expects articles investigating synergies and contradictions between the aims and policy programs conforming REDD+ national strategies and other land-use policies, including, but not limited to, agricultural and urban development policies. What degree of coordination, reform or even transformation across policies and sectors is being sought and achieved? Specifically, there is an interest in articles exploring if REDD+ is able (or not, and why) to transcend forest sector regulations in host countries, based on cross-sectoral and coordinated policy bodies and, more importantly, on the development of coordinated, rather than contradictory, development and land-use planning policies.

  • Impacts of REDD+ activities

The Special Issue welcomes articles that focus on measuring the impacts of REDD+ activities, understood broadly as environmental and/or socio-economic and/or cultural changes, including new social conflicts and cooperation, resulting from REDD+ activities (policy programs and local projects) for specific environments, territories and peoples. These can include articles using quantitative and control-group based methods to investigate such impacts, as well as articles using qualitative, ethnographic data to explore how REDD+ activities, and specifically their carbon accounting dimension, has influenced resource access relations and existing conservation motivations and values.

Dr. Esteve Corbera
Dr. Heike Schroeder
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • REDD+
  • REDD+ politics and discourses
  • REDD+ policy interplays
  • REDD+ impacts
  • REDD+ effectiveness
  • REDD+ conflicts

Published Papers (22 papers)

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Editorial

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682 KiB  
Editorial
REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays
by Esteve Corbera and Heike Schroeder
Forests 2017, 8(12), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8120508 - 20 Dec 2017
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6061
Abstract
This article introduces the special issue “REDD+ crossroads post Paris: politics, lessons and interplays”. The contributions to the special issue demonstrate, first, that REDD+ design in the studied countries has generally lacked social legitimacy and sidelined key actors that have an important role [...] Read more.
This article introduces the special issue “REDD+ crossroads post Paris: politics, lessons and interplays”. The contributions to the special issue demonstrate, first, that REDD+ design in the studied countries has generally lacked social legitimacy and sidelined key actors that have an important role in shaping land-use sector dynamics. Second, they show that REDD+ early actions have tended to oversimplify local realities and have been misaligned with other policy goals and local needs. Third, REDD+ efforts have remained constrained to the forestry or climate mitigation policy sectors and have thus suffered from a lack of harmonization across local, national and international concerns, specifically of contradictory policy. As REDD+ moves from its preparedness to its implementation phase, more research efforts should be aimed at analysing the power relations that underpin and determine the design and implementation of REDD+ policies and actions, the potential for and limits to the vertical and horizontal harmonization of land-use policies and management, and the processes of resistance to or accommodation of REDD+ practices on the ground. In doing so, we advocate for multi-and transdisciplinary research that does not take for granted the benefits of REDD+ and which critically scrutinizes the multiple goals of this ambitious international policy framework, and where it sits within the broader Paris Agreement implementation agenda. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review, Other

4337 KiB  
Article
REDD+ in West Africa: Politics of Design and Implementation in Ghana and Nigeria
by Adeniyi P. Asiyanbi, Albert A. Arhin and Usman Isyaku
Forests 2017, 8(3), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030078 - 11 Mar 2017
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 10195
Abstract
This paper analyses the design and implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests (REDD+) in the West African region, an important global biodiversity area. Drawing on in-depth interviews, analysis of policy documents [...] Read more.
This paper analyses the design and implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests (REDD+) in the West African region, an important global biodiversity area. Drawing on in-depth interviews, analysis of policy documents and observation of everyday activities, we sought to understand how REDD+ has been designed and implemented in Nigeria and Ghana. We draw on political ecology to examine how, and why REDD+ takes the form it does in these countries. We structure our discussion around three key dimensions that emerged as strong areas of common emphasis in our case studies—capacity building, carbon visibility, and property rights. First, we show that while REDD+ design generally foregrounds an ostensible inclusionary politics, its implementation is driven through various forms of exclusion. This contradictory inclusion–exclusion politics, which is partly emblematic of the neoliberal provenance of the REDD+ policy, is also a contingent reality and a strategy for navigating complexities and pursuing certain interests. Second, we show that though the emergent foci of REDD+ implementation in our case studies align with global REDD+ expectations, they still manifest as historically and geographically contingent processes that reflect negotiated and contested relations among actors that constitute the specific national circumstance of each country. We conclude by reflecting on the importance of our findings for understanding REDD+ projects in other tropical countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1386 KiB  
Article
Costs of Lost opportunities: Applying Non-Market Valuation Techniques to Potential REDD+ Participants in Cameroon
by Dara Y. Thompson, Brent M. Swallow and Martin K. Luckert
Forests 2017, 8(3), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030069 - 03 Mar 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5504
Abstract
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been systematically advanced within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, implementing REDD+ in a populated landscape requires information on local costs and acceptability of changed practices. To supply such information, many [...] Read more.
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been systematically advanced within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, implementing REDD+ in a populated landscape requires information on local costs and acceptability of changed practices. To supply such information, many studies have adopted approaches that explore the opportunity cost of maintaining land as forest rather than converting it to agricultural uses. These approaches typically assume that the costs to the smallholder are borne exclusively through the loss or gain of the production values associated with specific categories of land use. However, evaluating the value of land to smallholders in incomplete and messy institutional and economic contexts entails other considerations, such as varying portfolios of land holdings, tenure arrangements, restricted access to capital, and unreliable food markets. We suggest that contingent valuation (CV) methods may provide a more complete reflection of the viability of REDD+ in multiple-use landscapes than do opportunity cost approaches. The CV approach eliminates the need to assume a homogenous smallholder, and instead assumes heterogeneity around social, economic and institutional contexts. We apply this approach in a southern rural Cameroonian context, through the lens of a hypothetical REDD+ contract. Our findings suggest local costs of REDD+ contracts to be higher and much more variable than opportunity cost estimates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1283 KiB  
Article
Early REDD+ Implementation: The Journey of an Indigenous Community in Eastern Panama
by Ignacia Holmes, Catherine Potvin and Oliver T. Coomes
Forests 2017, 8(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030067 - 03 Mar 2017
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 7605
Abstract
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) offers developing countries an opportunity to engage in global climate change mitigation through the sale of carbon credits for reforestation, avoided deforestation and forest conservation projects. Funding for REDD+ projects has increased in recent years [...] Read more.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) offers developing countries an opportunity to engage in global climate change mitigation through the sale of carbon credits for reforestation, avoided deforestation and forest conservation projects. Funding for REDD+ projects has increased in recent years and REDD+ projects have proliferated, but relatively few studies have, as yet, examined their implementation. Here, we present a synthesis of the challenges and lessons learned while implementing a REDD+ project in an Emberá community in Panama. Our case study, documented in four cycles of collaborative action research over 11 years, examines how local communities sought to reduce emissions from deforestation and benefit from carbon offset trading while improving local livelihoods. Through semi-structured interviews and participatory methods, we found that success with REDD+ hinges on broader issues than those widely discussed in the literature and in policy circles. Though economic incentives for participants and the equitable distribution of benefits remain important to project participants, our study finds that, in adapting REDD+ strategies to best suit community needs, the role of a support system for implementation (“bridging institutions”) and REDD+’s potential as a conflict resolution mechanism for tenure issues deserve more attention as key factors that contribute to meaningful participation in REDD+. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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2352 KiB  
Article
Beyond Rewards and Punishments in the Brazilian  Amazon: Practical Implications of the REDD+  Discourse
by Maria Fernanda Gebara and Arun Agrawal
Forests 2017, 8(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030066 - 02 Mar 2017
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 9090
Abstract
Through different policies and measures reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhancing conservation (REDD+) has grown into a way to induce behavior change of forest managers and landowners in tropical countries. We argue that debates around REDD+ in Brazil have typically highlighted [...] Read more.
Through different policies and measures reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhancing conservation (REDD+) has grown into a way to induce behavior change of forest managers and landowners in tropical countries. We argue that debates around REDD+ in Brazil have typically highlighted rewards and punishments, obscuring other core interventions and strategies that are also critically important to reach the goal of reducing deforestation, supporting livelihoods, and promoting conservation (i.e., technology transfer and capacity building). We adopt Foucault’s concepts of governmentality and technologies of governance to provide a reading of the REDD+ discourse in Brazil and to offer an historical genealogy of the rewards and punishments approach. By analyzing practical elements from REDD+ implementation in the Brazilian Amazon, our research provides insights on the different dimensions in which smallholders react to rewards and punishments. In doing so, we add to the debate on governmentality, supplementing its focus on rationalities of governance with attention to the social practices in which such rationalities are embedded. Our research also suggests that the techniques of remuneration and coercion on which a rewards and punishments approach relies are only supporting limited behavioral changes on the ground, generating negative adaptations of deforestation practices, reducing positive feedbacks and, perhaps as importantly, producing only short‐term outcomes at the expense of positive longterm land use changes. Furthermore, the approach ignores local heterogeneities and the differences between the agents engaging in forest clearing in the Amazon. The practical elements of the REDD+ discourse in Brazil suggest the rewards and punishments approach profoundly limits our understanding of human behavior by reducing the complex and multi‐dimensional to a linear and rational simplicity. Such simplification leads to an underestimation of smallholders’ capacity to play a key role in climate mitigation and adaptation. We conclude by highlighting the importance of looking at local heterogeneities and capacities and the need to promote trust, altruism and responsibility towards others and future generations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1968 KiB  
Article
Towards a Role-Oriented Governance Approach: Insights from Eight Forest Climate Initiatives
by Mareike Blum and Sabine Reinecke
Forests 2017, 8(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030065 - 28 Feb 2017
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5235
Abstract
In forest climate governance processes such as REDD+, non-state actors take on various, more or less formal, but in fact potentially authoritative governance tasks when informing, financing, (co)deciding or implementing forest climate action. Drawing on the concept of social roles, we investigate eight [...] Read more.
In forest climate governance processes such as REDD+, non-state actors take on various, more or less formal, but in fact potentially authoritative governance tasks when informing, financing, (co)deciding or implementing forest climate action. Drawing on the concept of social roles, we investigate eight different REDD+ governance processes and how a variety of practical authoritative roles are enacted in administration, finance, decision-making and knowledge production. By systematically revealing the distinct ways of how different roles were filled, we developed a first (potentially still incomplete) typology of role practices and underlying rationales within different governance settings. In this endeavor, the role concept offered a valuable and handy analytical tool for empirically operationalizing governance performance, which is principally compatible with both institutional and social constructivist approaches to legitimacy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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972 KiB  
Article
Co-Operation or Co-Optation? NGOs’ Roles in Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative
by Erlend A. T. Hermansen, Desmond McNeill, Sjur Kasa and Raoni Rajão
Forests 2017, 8(3), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030064 - 28 Feb 2017
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 10789
Abstract
This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and [...] Read more.
This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and compare different roles and modes of engagement. NGOs have co-operated with government in policy design and implementation, albeit to varying degrees, in all four countries, but expressed relatively little public criticism. Funding seems to have an influence on NGOs’ choices regarding whether, what, when, and how to criticise. However, limited public criticism does not necessarily mean that the NGOs are co-opted. They are reflexive regarding their possible operating space, and act strategically and pragmatically to pursue their goals in an entrepreneurial manner. The interests of NGOs and NICFI are to a large extent congruent. Instead of publicly criticising a global initiative that they largely support, and thus put the initiative as a whole at risk, NGOs may use other, more informal, channels to voice points of disagreement. While NGOs do indeed run the risk of being co-opted, their opportunity to resist this fate is probably greater in this instance than is usually the case because NICFI are so reliant on their services. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1933 KiB  
Article
Revitalizing REDD+ Policy Processes in Vietnam: The Roles of State and Non-State Actors
by Thu Ba Huynh and Rodney J. Keenan
Forests 2017, 8(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030053 - 24 Feb 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6780
Abstract
Vietnam was one of the first countries to introduce the National REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Action Program in 2012. The country has recently revised the Program to aim for a more inclusive 2016–2020 strategy and a vision to 2030. [...] Read more.
Vietnam was one of the first countries to introduce the National REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Action Program in 2012. The country has recently revised the Program to aim for a more inclusive 2016–2020 strategy and a vision to 2030. This study explores how Vietnam policy actors view REDD+ policy development and their influence in these processes. The results can contribute to the discussion on how policy actors can effectively influence policy processes in the evolving context of REDD+ and in the types of political arrangements represented in Vietnam. We examined the influence of state and non-state actors on the 2012 National REDD+ Action Program (NRAP) processes, and explored factors that may have shaped this influence, using a combination of document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 81 policy actors. It was found that non-state actors in REDD+ are still on the periphery of decision making, occupying “safe” positions, and have not taken either full advantage of their capacities, or of recent significant changes in the contemporary policy environment, to exert stronger influence on policy. We suggest that REDD+ policy processes in Vietnam need to be revitalized with key actors engaging collectively to promote the possibilities of REDD+ within a broader view of social change that reaches beyond the forestry sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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956 KiB  
Article
“Georgetown ain’t got a tree. We got the trees”—Amerindian Power & Participation in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy
by Sam Airey and Torsten Krause
Forests 2017, 8(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030051 - 23 Feb 2017
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7433
Abstract
International bi-lateral agreements to support the conservation of rainforests to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are growing in prevalence. In 2009, the governments of Guyana and Norway established Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). We examine the extent to which the participation and inclusion [...] Read more.
International bi-lateral agreements to support the conservation of rainforests to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are growing in prevalence. In 2009, the governments of Guyana and Norway established Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). We examine the extent to which the participation and inclusion of Guyana’s indigenous population within the LCDS is being achieved. We conducted a single site case study, focussing on the experiences and perceptions from the Amerindian community of Chenapou. Based on 30 interviews, we find that a deficit of adequate dialogue and consultation has occurred in the six years since the LCDS was established. Moreover, key indigenous rights, inscribed at both a national and international level, have not been upheld with respect to the community of Chenapou. Our findings identify consistent shortcomings to achieve genuine participation and the distinct and reinforced marginalisation of Amerindian communities within the LCDS. A further critique is the failure of the government to act on previous research, indicating a weakness of not including indigenous groups in the Guyana-Norway bi-lateral agreement. We conclude that, if the government is to uphold the rights of Amerindian communities in Guyana, significant adjustments are needed. A more contextualised governance, decentralising power and offering genuine participation and inclusion, is required to support the engagement of marginal forest-dependent communities in the management of their natural resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1256 KiB  
Article
Resources and Rules of the Game: Participation of Civil Society in REDD+ and FLEGT‐VPA Processes in Lao PDR
by Irmeli Mustalahti, Mathias Cramm, Sabaheta Ramcilovic‐Suominen and Yitagesu T. Tegegne
Forests 2017, 8(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020050 - 21 Feb 2017
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 9420
Abstract
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to achieve its purpose by working across multiple sectors and involving multilevel actors in reducing deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries. By contrast, the European Union (EU) Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, [...] Read more.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to achieve its purpose by working across multiple sectors and involving multilevel actors in reducing deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries. By contrast, the European Union (EU) Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) focus on forestry and functions at a bilateral state level. The FLEGT Action Plan specifically aims to tackle illegal logging and improve forest governance in countries exporting tropical timber to the EU. Since illegal logging is just one driver of forest degradation, and legalisation of logging does not necessarily reduce deforestation and forest degradation, the two instruments differ in scope. However, by addressing the causes of forest degradation and their underlying governance issues, the FLEGT VPAs and REDD+ share many functional linkages at higher levels of forest policy and forest governance. The contribution and participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) and other actors are imperative to both processes. Our study is based on a survey of key actors (national and international) in REDD+ and FLEGT VPA processes in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Our analysis was guided by the theoretical perspectives of the policy arrangement approach and examination of two specific dimensions of this approach, namely resources and rules of the game. This paper argues that participation of CSOs in both processes is crucial because it facilitates and nurtures much needed cooperation between other national and international actors. The paper concludes that participation of CSOs could bring valuable information and knowledge into REDD+ and FLEGT VPA processes, thus contributing to increased legitimacy, justice and transparency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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8925 KiB  
Article
Forest Islands and Castaway Communities: REDD+ and Forest Restoration in Prey Lang Forest
by Courtney Work
Forests 2017, 8(2), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020047 - 17 Feb 2017
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7288
Abstract
Climate Change policies are playing an ever-increasing role in global development strategies and their implementation gives rise to often-unforeseen social conflicts and environmental degradations. A landscape approach to analyzing forest-based Climate Change Mitigation policies (CCM) and land grabs in the Prey Lang Forest [...] Read more.
Climate Change policies are playing an ever-increasing role in global development strategies and their implementation gives rise to often-unforeseen social conflicts and environmental degradations. A landscape approach to analyzing forest-based Climate Change Mitigation policies (CCM) and land grabs in the Prey Lang Forest landscape, Cambodia revealed two Korea-Cambodia partnership projects designed to increase forest cover that are juxtaposed in this paper. Case study data revealed a REDD+ project with little negative impact or social conflict in the project area and an Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) project that created both social and ecological conflicts. The study concludes that forest-based CCM policies can reduce conflict through efforts at minimal transformation of local livelihoods, maximal attention to the tenure rights, responsibilities, and authority of citizens, and by improving, not degrading, the project landscapes. The paper presents the circumstances under which these guidelines are sidestepped by the A/R project, and importantly reveals that dramatic forest and livelihood transformation had already affected the community and environment in the REDD+ project site. There are deep contradictions at the heart of climate change policies toward which attention must be given, lest we leave our future generations with nothing but forest islands and castaway communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1533 KiB  
Article
Livelihoods and Land Uses in Environmental Policy Approaches: The Case of PES and REDD+ in the Lam Dong Province of Vietnam
by Leif Tore Trædal and Pål Olav Vedeld
Forests 2017, 8(2), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020039 - 08 Feb 2017
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 9531
Abstract
This paper explores assumptions about the drivers of forest cover change in a Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) context in the Lam Dong Province in Vietnam. In policy discourses, deforestation is often linked to ‘poor’ [...] Read more.
This paper explores assumptions about the drivers of forest cover change in a Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) context in the Lam Dong Province in Vietnam. In policy discourses, deforestation is often linked to ‘poor’ and ‘ethnic minority’ households and their unsustainable practices such as the expansion of coffee production (and other agricultural activities) into forest areas. This paper applies a livelihood framework to discuss the links between livelihoods and land use amongst small-scale farmers in two communities. The findings of the livelihood survey demonstrate no clear linkages between poverty levels and unsustainable practices. In fact, the poorest segments were found to deforest the least. The ways in which current PES and REDD+ approaches are designed, do not provide appropriate solutions to address the underlying dimensions of issues at stake. The paper criticizes one-dimensional perspectives of the drivers behind deforestation and forest degradation often found in public policies and discourses. We suggest more comprehensive analyses of underlying factors encompassing the entire coffee production and land use system in this region. Addressing issues of land tenure and the scarcity of productive lands, and generating viable off-farm income alternatives seem to be crucial. Sustainable approaches for reducing deforestation and degradation could be possible through engaging with multiple stakeholders, including the business-oriented households in control of the coffee trade and of land transactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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855 KiB  
Article
Evolving Protected-Area Impacts in Mexico: Political Shifts as Suggested by Impact Evaluations
by Alexander Pfaff, Francisco Santiago-Ávila and Lucas Joppa
Forests 2017, 8(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8010017 - 29 Dec 2016
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5776
Abstract
For protected areas (PAs), variation in forest impacts over space—including types of PA—are increasingly well documented, while shifts in impacts over time receive less attention. For Mexico, in the 1990s, PAs effectively were ‘paper parks’. Thus, achieving impacts on the forest would require [...] Read more.
For protected areas (PAs), variation in forest impacts over space—including types of PA—are increasingly well documented, while shifts in impacts over time receive less attention. For Mexico, in the 1990s, PAs effectively were ‘paper parks’. Thus, achieving impacts on the forest would require shifts over time in the politics of PA siting and PA implementation. We rigorously analyze the impacts of Mexican PAs on 2000–2005 loss of natural land cover, using matching to reduce location bias caused by typical land-use economics and politics. We find a 3.2% lower loss, on average, due to PAs. Since politics often vary by type of PA, we also show that in Mexico stricter PAs are closer to cities and have greater impact than mixed-use PAs. These shifts in impacts suggest some potential for PAs to conserve forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1810 KiB  
Article
Does the ‘One Map Initiative’ Represent a New Path for Forest Mapping in Indonesia? Assessing the Contribution of the REDD+ Initiative in Effecting Forest Governance Reform
by Mari Mulyani and Paul Jepson
Forests 2017, 8(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8010014 - 27 Dec 2016
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7949
Abstract
This study investigates one notable result that the REDD+ (‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks and conservation’) initiative effected within Indonesia’s forest institutions. It argues that during its interplay with existing National forest institutions REDD+ produced a [...] Read more.
This study investigates one notable result that the REDD+ (‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks and conservation’) initiative effected within Indonesia’s forest institutions. It argues that during its interplay with existing National forest institutions REDD+ produced a significant benefit; namely, the ‘one map initiative’ (OMI) being the government’s response to the call for greater transparency and enabling of REDD+ implementation. It asks: “Does the ‘One Map Initiative’ signify a switch to a new path of map-making, or is it just another innovation within an existing path dependence of forest governance?” Through eighty semi-structured interviews with ‘REDD+ policy actors’ and the deployment of ‘path dependence’ theory, this study seeks to determine the extent to which the REDD+ initiative created a ‘critical juncture’ (i.e., momentum for institutions to move to a new path). This study maps the institutional path dependence within forest-mapping as a means for the state to gain control of forest resources. In its development process the OMI has shown its ability to break the old path-dependence of map-making (e.g., lack of transparency, low level of public participation, and poor coordination amongst ministries). Moreover, this paper identified several historical events (i.e., ‘critical junctures’) that preceded the REDD+ initiative as contributing factors to the relative success of REDD+ in effecting forest governance reform. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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4684 KiB  
Article
Using REDD+ Policy to Facilitate Climate Adaptation at the Local Level: Synergies and Challenges in Vietnam
by Pamela McElwee, Van Hai Thi Nguyen, Dung Viet Nguyen, Nghi Huu Tran, Hue Van Thi Le, Tuyen Phuong Nghiem and Huong Dieu Thi Vu
Forests 2017, 8(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8010011 - 24 Dec 2016
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 10585
Abstract
Attention has recently been paid to how REDD+ mitigation policies are integrated into other sectoral policies, particularly those dealing with climate adaptation at the national level. But there is less understanding of how subnational policy and local projects are able to incorporate attention [...] Read more.
Attention has recently been paid to how REDD+ mitigation policies are integrated into other sectoral policies, particularly those dealing with climate adaptation at the national level. But there is less understanding of how subnational policy and local projects are able to incorporate attention to adaptation; therefore, we use a case study in Vietnam to discuss how REDD+ projects and policies address both concerns of mitigation and adaptation together at subnational levels. Through stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and household surveys in three provinces of Vietnam with REDD+ activities, our research sought to understand if REDD+ policies and projects on the ground acknowledge that climate change is likely to impact forests and forest users; if this knowledge is built into REDD+ policy and activities; how households in forested areas subject to REDD+ policy are vulnerable to climate change; and how REDD+ activities can help or hinder needed adaptations. Our findings indicate that there continues to be a lack of coordination between mitigation and adaptation policies in Vietnam, particularly with regard to REDD+. Policies for forest-based climate mitigation at the national and subnational level, as well as site-based projects, have paid little attention to the adaptation needs of local communities, many of whom are already suffering from noticeable weather changes in their localities, and there is insufficient discussion of how REDD+ activities could facilitate increased resilience. While there were some implicit and coincidental adaptation benefits of some REDD+ activities, most studied projects and policies did not explicitly target their activities to focus on adaptation or resilience, and in at least one case, negative livelihood impacts that have increased household vulnerability to climate change were documented. Key barriers to integration were identified, such as sectoral specialization; a lack of attention in REDD+ projects to livelihoods; and inadequate support for ecosystem-based adaptation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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3204 KiB  
Article
A Dominant Voice amidst Not Enough People: Analysing the Legitimacy of Mexico’s REDD+ Readiness Process
by Jovanka Špirić, Esteve Corbera, Victoria Reyes-García and Luciana Porter-Bolland
Forests 2016, 7(12), 313; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7120313 - 10 Dec 2016
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6864
Abstract
In the development of national governance systems for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), countries struggle with ensuring that decision-making processes include a variety of actors (i.e., input legitimacy) and represent their diverse views in REDD+ policy documents (i.e., output legitimacy). [...] Read more.
In the development of national governance systems for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), countries struggle with ensuring that decision-making processes include a variety of actors (i.e., input legitimacy) and represent their diverse views in REDD+ policy documents (i.e., output legitimacy). We examine these two dimensions of legitimacy using Mexico’s REDD+ readiness process during a four-year period (2011–2014) as a case study. To identify REDD+ actors and how they participate in decision-making we used a stakeholder analysis; to assess actors’ views and the extent to which these views are included in the country’s official REDD+ documents we conducted a discourse analysis. We found low level of input legitimacy in so far as that the federal government environment agencies concentrate most decision-making power and key land-use sectors and local people’s representatives are absent in decision-making forums. We also observed that the REDD+ discourse held by government agencies and both multilateral and international conservation organisations is dominant in policy documents, while the other two identified discourses, predominantly supported by national and civil society organisations and the academia, are partly, or not at all, reflected in such documents. We argue that Mexico’s REDD+ readiness process should become more inclusive, decentralised, and better coordinated to allow for the deliberation and institutionalisation of different actors’ ideas in REDD+ design. Our analysis and recommendations are relevant to other countries in the global South embarking on REDD+ design and implementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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699 KiB  
Article
Transforming Justice in REDD+ through a Politics of Difference Approach
by Kimberly R. Marion Suiseeya
Forests 2016, 7(12), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7120300 - 30 Nov 2016
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5350
Abstract
Since Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation “Plus” (REDD+) starting gaining traction in the UN climate negotiations in 2007, its architects and scholars have grappled with its community-level justice implications. On the one hand, supporters argue that REDD+ will help the environment and [...] Read more.
Since Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation “Plus” (REDD+) starting gaining traction in the UN climate negotiations in 2007, its architects and scholars have grappled with its community-level justice implications. On the one hand, supporters argue that REDD+ will help the environment and forest-dependent communities by generating payments for forest carbon services from industrialized countries seeking lower cost emissions reductions. Critics, by contrast, increasingly argue that REDD+ is a new form of colonization through capitalism, producing injustice by stripping forest communities of their rights, denying them capabilities for wellbeing, and rendering forest peoples voiceless in forest governance. This paper argues that current REDD+ debates are too focused on relatively simple visions of either distributive or procedural justice, and pay too little attention to the core recognitional justice concerns of REDD+ critics, namely questions of what values, worldviews, rights, and identities are privileged or displaced in the emergence, design, and implementation of REDD+ and with what effects. This paper examines the tensions that emerge when designing institutions to promote multi-scalar, multivalent justice in REDD+ to ask: what are the justice demands that REDD+ architects face when designing REDD+ institutions? Complexifying the concepts of justice as deployed in the debates on REDD+ can illuminate the possibilities for a diversity of alternative perspectives to generate new institutional design ideas for REDD+. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
1027 KiB  
Article
Governance Values in the Climate Change Regime: Stakeholder Perceptions of REDD+ Legitimacy at the National Level
by Timothy Cadman, Tek Maraseni, Hugh Breakey, Federico López-Casero and Hwan Ok Ma
Forests 2016, 7(10), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7100212 - 23 Sep 2016
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6884
Abstract
This paper presents the results of two national-level studies of REDD+ governance values in Nepal and Papua New Guinea (PNG), using a hierarchical framework of principles, criteria, and indicators (PC&I), with evaluation at the indicator level. The research was conducted by means of [...] Read more.
This paper presents the results of two national-level studies of REDD+ governance values in Nepal and Papua New Guinea (PNG), using a hierarchical framework of principles, criteria, and indicators (PC&I), with evaluation at the indicator level. The research was conducted by means of an online survey to determine general perspectives on the governance quality of REDD+, as well as stakeholder workshops, in which participants were asked to rank indicators on the basis of perceived national significance. In the online survey, respondents in both countries identified inclusiveness and resources as the highest and lowest scoring governance values, while inclusiveness, resources, accountability, and transparency, were given priority, although their relative importance differed between countries given national circumstances. The reasons for the commonalities and differences of perceptions between these countries are discussed. The findings suggest that while a generic set of governance values may be usefully applied for determining the institutional legitimacy of REDD+, their relative importance is different. This leads to the conclusion that it may not be appropriate to use a simplified approach to REDD+ governance, focusing for example on safeguards, given different national priorities and contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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1126 KiB  
Article
Does REDD+ Ensure Sectoral Coordination and Stakeholder Participation? A Comparative Analysis of REDD+ National Governance Structures in Countries of Asia-Pacific Region
by Taiji Fujisaki, Kimihiko Hyakumura, Henry Scheyvens and Tim Cadman
Forests 2016, 7(9), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7090195 - 31 Aug 2016
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6960
Abstract
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) requires harmonizing different policy sectors and interests that have impacts on forests. However, these elements have not been well-operationalized in environmental policy-making processes of most developing countries. Drawing on five cases—Cambodia, Indonesia, [...] Read more.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) requires harmonizing different policy sectors and interests that have impacts on forests. However, these elements have not been well-operationalized in environmental policy-making processes of most developing countries. Drawing on five cases—Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam, this article aims to determine whether emerging governance arrangements help REDD+ development by delivering participatory mechanisms for policy coordination. Building upon literature on environmental governance and stakeholder participation, the article examines national governance structures for REDD+ and identifies who participates where, and what decision-making powers they have. Despite structural differences between the countries, our analysis illustrates that REDD+ potentially encourages a new form of environmental governance promoting a cross-sectoral approach and stakeholder participation. Cohesiveness of the structures within a broader governance system is key to defining the capacity of REDD+ governance. The result also poses a question as to the inclusiveness of the state actors involved in order to tackle the different pressure on forests. Considering structural inequalities, the analysis further suggests a need of policy support for those who are affected by REDD+ to ensure that their voices could be heard in decision-making processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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Review

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2975 KiB  
Review
The Place of Community Forest Management in the REDD+ Landscape
by Johanne Pelletier, Nancy Gélinas and Margaret Skutsch
Forests 2016, 7(8), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7080170 - 04 Aug 2016
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 16815
Abstract
Community forest management (CFM) is identified by many actors as a core strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). Others however see REDD+ as a danger to CFM. In response to these contrasting views, we carried out [...] Read more.
Community forest management (CFM) is identified by many actors as a core strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). Others however see REDD+ as a danger to CFM. In response to these contrasting views, we carried out a systematic review of CFM case studies to look at CFM’s potential role in achieving forest carbon benefits and social co-benefits for forest communities. We evaluated the potential impacts of REDD+ on CFM. Our review showed that there is strong evidence of CFM’s role in reducing degradation and stabilizing forested landscapes; however, the review also showed less evidence about the role of CFM in reducing deforestation. For social benefits, we found that CFM contributes to livelihoods, but its effect on poverty reduction may be limited. Also, CFM may not deal adequately with the distribution of benefits within communities or user groups. These insights are important for CFM-based REDD+ intervention; measures should be adopted to overcome these gaps. Innovative incentive structures to existing CFM are discussed. The recognition of rights for forest communities is one first step identified in promoting CFM. We call for sound empirical impact evaluations that analyze CFM and CFM-based REDD+ interventions by looking at both biophysical and social outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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321 KiB  
Reply
Let’s not Miss the Forest for the Trees: A reply to Pinto et al. Forests 2017, 8(7), 230
by Maria Fernanda Gebara and Arun Agrawal
Forests 2017, 8(7), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8070236 - 03 Jul 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3392
Abstract
We welcome the comments of Pinto et al. [1] to our article [2].[...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
646 KiB  
Comment
Comment on the Article Published in Forest by Maria Fernanda Gebara and Arun Agrawal, Forests 2017, 8, 66
by Erika P. P. Pinto, Paulo Moutinho and Osvaldo Stella
Forests 2017, 8(7), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8070230 - 29 Jun 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3301
Abstract
The article entitled “Beyond Rewards and Punishments in the Brazilian Amazon: Practical Implications of the REDD+ Discourse” [1], published in the journal “Forests”, provides an interesting analysis for evaluating the performance of payment for environmental services (PES) initiatives in the region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue REDD+ Crossroads Post Paris: Politics, Lessons and Interplays)
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