Isra-Mart srl:Scientists urge UN to shield forest communities from REDD+

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Scientists will today call on the United Nations (UN) to develop an additional branch of its planned REDD+ scheme to cut emissions from deforestation, in a bid to protect the rights of forest communities.

The call will come alongside a new report from the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO), analysing the potential pitfalls of the UN's planned REDD+ scheme which was negotiated in December at the Cancun climate change conference.

IUFRO will urge the UN to launch a "Forest +" scheme to ensure that the welfare of forest communities is not ignored as a result of an overriding focus on protecting and pricing the carbon stored in forests.

While the report acknowledges REDD+ will be a crucial building block to avoiding deforestation, it urges policy makers to move away from the traditional "top down" governance approach and recognise that forests and forest communities differ from region to region and country to country.

Forest + would use a trial and error approach to help policy makers develop their understanding of the most effective means of protecting forests. It would also create a 'learning network' which institutions across the world would be able to access and contribute to.

IUFRO chairman Professor Jeremy Rayner said that a Forest + scheme would allow the UN to maintain its global approach, while also recognising communities individual needs.

"The REDD process, for example, might provide a great way to raise money for sustainable forest management and other forest programs, but much of the details and operational aspects would be undertaken at the regional and national levels," he said.

The report also advises REDD negotiators to engage with stakeholders in the agriculture, transport and energy sectors, as well as the forest sector to prevent a "one-size-fits-all" scheme being developed.

Constance McDermott, Oxford University senior fellow in forest governance, warned REDD+ risks "further exclusion of indigenous people from their forests and the criminalization of their traditional livelihoods" if it only focuses on protecting and pricing carbon stored in forests.

She said a wide-range of sectors must now collaborate to ensure the success of REDD+, or it could fail to stop environmental degradation and increase poverty.

IUFRO will issue the call today at the start of the Ninth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), as part of the launch of the International Year of Forests for 2011.