INTERNATIONAL TROPICALTIMBER ORGANIZATION

Actively supports emerging
international and national priorities
on REDD+ policy development andimplementation.

Strengthens enabling conditions
for enhancing environmental
services and reducing deforestationand forest degradation.

Promotes Sustainable Forest
Management (SFM) by addressing
the economic, social andenvironmental values of forests foreffective climate change responses.

SUPPORTING
EFFECTIVE
INTERNATIONAL
CLIMATE CHANGERESPONSES BY
ENHANCING REDD+MECHANISMS& ENGAGING
GOVERNMENTS,THE PRIVATE SECTOR& COMMUNITIESTO SUSTAINABLY
IMPLEMENT REDD+PROJECTS.

TROPICAL FORESTSABSORB AND STORELARGE QUANTITIESOF CARBON, MAKING
THEIR PRESERVATIONONE OF THE MOST
EFFECTIVE WAYS OFMITIGATING CLIMATECHANGE.
Home to a vast array of plant
and animal species, tropical forests
also provide clean water, food,medicine and materials to forestdependent communities.
Despite their crucial importance,each year over 10 million hectaresof forest (mostly in the tropics) areconverted to other uses or lost
through natural causes.1 Without
immediate action, the alreadyserious effects of deforestationand forest degradation will worsenand lead to decreased carbon
sequestration, loss of biodiversityand depleted economic
development opportunities
for both forest-dependentcommunities and humankind.

Coastal forest in Meru Betiri National Park, Java, Indonesia. Photo: T. Bruder

CASE STUDY: INDONESIA
Meru Betiri National Park (MBNP) is a thriving tropical forest of around58,000 hectares in East Java, Indonesia. MBNP is home to rich and diverse
ecosystems, but the forests and local communities are increasingly under
threat from illegal encroachment and logging.
Recognizing these issues, ITTO – with the support of Seven & i Holdings(Japan) – created a robust measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV)system to monitor greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestationand forest degradation, and account for increases in forest carbon stocks
in the park. In collaboration with private sector partners, the national
government and a local NGO, ITTO facilitated the active participationof the local community to prevent deforestation, forest degradation
and biodiversity loss.
In creating a positive enabling environment for the local community
by raising awareness, ITTO’s work in the MBNP helped implement aneffective MRV system, contributing directly to building a collaborative
vision for REDD+, biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvements.

INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION

Reducing emissions fromdeforestation and forest
degradation (REDD+) is a criticalglobal response to these issues,
but it is also widely recognized thatsuccessfully implementing REDD+
is a great challenge. ITTO’s
REDDES Programme is a leadingmechanism to support costeffective global carbon mitigation
by making REDD+ a reality.
The REDDES Programme
facilitates both policy formulationand implementation by actively
collaborating and integrating withexisting REDD+ mechanisms, suchas UN-REDD. Building on ITTO’s
longstanding partnerships andextensive knowledge andexperience delivering projects
in cooperation with localcommunities, REDDES achieves
results on the ground to support
international REDD+ initiatives
in delivering global environmentalservices.

1

FAO Forest Resources Assessment 2010

PROGRAMME OVERVIEWThe Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Environmental Services in Tropical Forests(REDDES) Programme provides solutions to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in forest communities
and promote the restoration of environmental services by implementing Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).
Supported by a streamlined and effective funding process, forest communities, civil society organisations,
government agencies, donors and the private sector are invited to submit project proposals, which are thenassessed and prioritized to determine those that will create dynamic partnerships among stakeholders.
1) Assessment and Diagnosis.
• Improve data and knowledge on forest environmental services.
• Provide policy related assessments to assist with planning and design of enabling conditionsfor SFM and help establish country capacity for effective REDD+ implementation.
2) Enabling Conditions and Capacity-Building.
• Create enabling conditions for reducing deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing
environmental services for global carbon and local community benefits.
• Build capacity among stakeholders in implementing SFM.
3) Demonstration Activities.
• Implement local demonstration projects and activities targeting SFM and the restoration
and rehabilitation of degraded forests.
• Assist communities in realizing the benefits of environmental services through theirdirect participation.
4) Expansion and Dissemination.
• Establish scalable communication tools, networks, products and events to raise awarenessof opportunities associated with REDD+ projects.
• Support knowledge management and lessons learned in cooperation with existing REDD+ initiatives.

Forest in Meru Betiri National Park, Java, Indonesia. Photo: T. Bruder

THE REDUCING DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION AND ENHANCING ENVIRONMENTALSERVICES IN TROPICAL FORESTS (REDDES) PROGRAMME DELIVERS BENEFITS FOR:GOVERNMENT& THE PUBLIC
SECTORDONORS & THE
INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY

FOREST
DEPENDENTCOMMUNITIESTHEPRIVATE SECTOR

IMPACT: Enhances
governance systems andsocial and environmental
safeguards to assist
countries in meeting
their national andinternational climatecommitments.

IMPACT: Minimizes risk andimproves cost-efficiency for
donor countries in meeting theirclimate commitments throughimproved monitoring, reportingand verification, forest
protection processes andsustained local partnerships.

IMPACT: Reduces rural
poverty and creates more
resilient livelihoods throughincreased employment
opportunities and improved
skills and social capital.

IMPACT: Provides accessto increased revenue fromcarbon finance, improved
forest resources forsustainable production andfinance streams to maintainand enhance environmental
services.

INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATIONWHAT WE
CAN ACHIEVEPARTNERWITH US

Preventing deforestation results in local and global
benefits that help address some of the world’s biggest
challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity
conservation and the protection of global ecosystemservices. REDD+ is a pillar of international climate
policy, but successfully implementing REDD+
programmes and projects is not a simple task.
The Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradationand Enhancing Environmental Services in TropicalForests (REDDES) Programme builds on ITTO’s
long-standing track record of working in partnershipwith governments, the private sector and local
communities to address the root causes of forest
loss and degradation, thereby helping to meet
REDD+ objectives.

To successfully deliver the Reducing Deforestation
and Forest Degradation and Enhancing
Environmental Services in Tropical Forests(REDDES) Programme over the next four years,
ITTO requires an additional US$5 million per year.

In addition to creating global climate change benefits
and increased biodiversity conservation, expanding
the REDDES Programme will result in improved
forest governance and economic stability for localcommunities. Tropical timber producing countries
will also benefit from protecting and managing theirenvironmental services, leading to more sustainableeconomies and emissions reductions.

The REDDES Programme is just one of ITTO’s key
areas of work and we need your support to deliver
it successfully. Download our Strategic Action Planfor 2013-2018 at www.itto.int/publicity_materials,
which outlines ITTO’s programmes of work andopportunities for donor support. For more
information please contact tp@itto.int.
By partnering together, we can help sustain theworld’s tropical forests. Our work over the last 30
years has built a strategic, targeted global response
to some of the world’s most challenging issues.
Through collaboration with international institutions
and local organisations we have made significant
progress in the sustainable management of tropicalforests but there is still much to achieve. To learn
more about ITTO, the REDDES Programme and how
to support our projects, visit us at www.itto.int.

WHY ITTOTO REDUCE DEFORESTATION?
International Tropical
Timber Organization (ITTO)
International Organizations Centre, 5F
Paciﬁco-Yokohama 1-1-1 Minato-Mirai,
Nishi-ku Yokohama, 220-0012 Japan
T +81-45-223-1110
F +81-45-223-1111
E itto@itto.int

Kuankus River, Ecuador.
Photo: A. Bellusi & N. Kingman

Since 1989, ITTO has successfully collaborated
with member countries to put policies into practice,promoting diverse REDD+ activities through local
projects and capacity-building initiatives. More than
1000 projects have been implemented to support thesustainable management of tropical forests in producing
member countries. ITTO is unparalleled in its ability tofacilitate effective partnerships among governments,
the private sector and local communities.
Launched in 2009, the Reducing Deforestation andForest Degradation and Enhancing Environmental
Services in Tropical Forests (REDDES) Programme
has approved over 31 projects for funding across Africa,
Asia and Latin America. REDDES collaborates closelywith FAO, the UN-REDD Programme and otherinternational and bilateral aid agencies’ REDD+ initiatives
to undertake complementary crosscutting actions.