Author: Luz Ignacia Holmes Cheyre

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

"Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a climate change mitigation mechanism as forest loss and degradation is the second highest anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas emissions. Local and indigenous people who manage forests are foci for REDD+ projects as such groups hold tenure to over 10% of global forests. REDD+ initiatives provide both opportunities and risks to local communities. On the one hand, they could limit the access and use rights of forest dwellers, restricting their livelihoods, but on the other hand they could offer an opportunity to combine the agendas of forest conservation and rural development, allowing for an increased flow of resources to marginalized communities, and delivering co-benefits such as poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. Although REDD+ projects and demonstration activities have proliferated in the last five years there is little literature examining if these initiatives succeed with regard to their carbon outcomes (emission reduction and carbon sequestration), and if they respect the knowledge and rights of forest-dependent people residing in the communities hosting REDD+ projects. This thesis fills this gap by conducting comprehensive research using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The overarching question this research seeks to answer is how local communities can reduce emissions from deforestation, benefiting from carbon offset trading while improving local livelihoods. By analysing a four-year-old, reforestation-based carbon-offset project on the collective lands of the indigenous Ipetí-Emberá, the study provides data on early mortality, tree growth and carbon sequestration capacity of 29 species that are commonly used by small farming households in Latin America and elsewhere, and shows that agroforestry systems could provide forest peoples with an entry point to REDD+ without restricting their livelihoods. Furthermore, by analyzing literature from rural development and sustainable forest management, I explore the factors that should be considered when implementing REDD+ and provide a framework of best practices and indicators that could be used by stakeholders to improve REDD+ project design, monitoring, and evaluation. Finally, the thesis presents the results of an in-depth case study that, in four cycles of collaborative action research (2002-2013), documented the challenges and lessons learned in implementation of a REDD+ project in the collective lands of the indigenous Ipetí-Emberá community. Though economic incentives for participants and the equitable distribution of benefits remain important to project participants, this study highlights that the importance of adapting REDD+ strategies to best suit community needs, and REDD+'s potential as a conflict resolution mechanism for tenure issues deserve more recognition as alternative factors that can contribute to meaningful participation in REDD+." --