International technical seminar

Toward developing a framework of global REDD+– Scaling up demonstration activities and integrating players’ roles –February 7 – 8, 2012 Tokyo, Japan

1. The Seminar met its target of sharing information, experiences and challenges
from various countries; and explored ideas for scaling up, effective and efficient
implementation of REDD+, in collaboration with current and emerging players.
2. Strong political commitment is key for countries preparing for REDD+. Somecountries are seeking further support and commitment from policy makers toaccelerate their efforts.
3. A significant improvement in the quality of information available about forests
has been noticed since countries began implementing their REDD+ readinessstrategies. During the Seminar, it was noted that:(a) Some innovative methods and promising research are being developed, suchas the correlation of canopy volume and standing volume currently being
carried out in PNG, for carbon estimation in inaccessible forest areas ;(b) Remote sensing will be important for regional, as well as at national and subnational scale monitoring.
4. The integration of forest cover information with other information, such as soil,
biodiversity, land and forest tenure, socio-economic, infrastructure, etc.; is now
necessary; enhancing data collection efforts are fundamental.
5. Credibility is a key element for the success of REDD+. Various tropical forest
countries are improving the transparency and accessibility of information
regarding their forest resources, forest governance, drivers of deforestation andforest degradation , and how they are being addressed.
6. REDD+ readiness is contributing to sustainable forest management andsustainable development, e.g: through (a) better forest inventories andassessments; (b) improved forest monitoring tools; (c) improved policy, legal andinstitutional frameworks for forest conservation and sustainable use; (d) new,freshly available funding for forest related activities; (e) increased interest ofvarious players on forest issues; and (f) further development of payment ofenvironmental services from forest ecosystems.
7. Countries are aware of the importance of participation and are making efforts toincorporate participatory processes into their readiness activities.

http://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/redd-rdc/en/index.html

8. Lessons learned and good examples, including better donor coordination
mechanisms, on REDD+ readiness are being accumulated and can be shared
among countries.
9. Some organizations are developing guidance and criteria for jurisdictional
REDD+ programs to enable crediting at multiple scales, as a potential solution to
manage comparability of diversified demonstration and pilot activities intechnically feasible manner.
10. Nested systems can enable scaling up from project level to national and subnational levels.
11. MRV methodologies should be harmonized between projects and national andsub-national levels. Participatory monitoring is also important at national/subnational levels.

Important challenges identified:
12. Sub-national approaches look feasible and practical. However, how to develop
the mechanism, including MRV, for scaling up from sub-national level tonational level, and vice versa, is still a challenge. It was recognized thatdevelopment of national guidelines is needed.
13. More research is needed to clearly demonstrate carbon additionality in production
forests that are already under sustainable forest management.
14. Questions whether REDD+ can compete with other land uses remain and require
further research.
15. Clear carbon ownership rights and definition of mechanisms for benefit sharing(performance-based, results-based or participation-based) are basic requirements
for the successful implementation of REDD+.
16. How REDD+ can benefit small landholders and small country territories (such as
small island states) needs further information.
17. Capacity building at regional, government, local and community level isimportant. In particular, training of forest experts both in developed anddeveloping countries, using technical instruction material such as the REDD
Cook Book and Ecosystems Carbon Toolkit, are important to promote technicalwork on REDD+.
18. Local people, forest managers and others are asking when the benefits of REDD+
will be realized. Managing expectations is now proving to be challenging.
________________

http://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/redd-rdc/en/index.html