Making Copenhagen count

Forests and FFI

 I talked to Natasha Calderwood, Program Coordinator, FFI-Macquarie Taskforce about the role of REDD+ and FFI’s new project.

Forest ecosystem in South America

FFI’s mission is to act to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take into account human needs.

“Forest Day 3 gave us the chance to share experiences and learn from forest-focused projects and people,” Natasha said.

REDD+ was a big focus of Forest Day 3. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is primarily about emissions reduction and REDD+ extends this to include the role of conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

“REDD+ is the scope of forest-based mitigation options to be hopefully included in the post-2012 REDD regime, encompassing forest conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, as identified in the Bali Action Plan,”

It is thought that REDD can not only address climate change and help the poor but have a positive effect on conserving biodiversity and sustaining vital ecosystem services.

“REDD+ must be part of an agreement made this week at COP” said Hilary Benn, Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK.

Community involvement in an FFI project

FFI has recently conducted a project looking into the social impact assessment of REDD projects and has been able to share some of the learnings here at COP15.

“Currently there is a monitoring system for carbon but what we don’t have is a way of monitoring success from REDD in terms of the social and biodiversity benefits of these projects” Natasha said.

FFI, in partnership with Forest Trends, the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and Rainforest Alliance, collaborated on developing guidance for conducting social impact assessments.

“This will hopefully help REDD proponents developing projects take into account the social implications” Natasha said.