Session 3: Ensuring REDD+ Complements Restoration, Poverty Alleviation and Adaptation Jeffrey Hatcher RRI Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change February 8, 2011 London

Outline Premise Implications of moving from RED to REDD+ Forests, people and: – Poverty Alleviation – Food Security – Adaptation Conditions for success Questions

Premise We face multiple crises (food insecurity, climate, energy, poverty, fragile political systems, continued disenfranchisement of women and minority groups) and we have limited time and money; all contributing to vulnerability to make effective progress on any one of them; we need to prepare for a very uncertain future. We need to invest on underlying, cross-cutting initiatives that help address multiple crises – that strengthen rural society and build resilience

Implications of REDD+ REDD+ has the potential to be a cross-cutting answer Within the Cancun Agreement REDD+ includes: enhancement and conservation of stocks and sustainable management of forests. Therefore a much larger geographic and therefore demographic scope is implicated – 1.5 billion hectares of degraded forest land = how many people? – 17% target for conservation areas REDD+ must therefore complement a host of goals and not just carbon, including: – Poverty alleviation – Food security – Adaptation

Forest Poverty and Livelihoods Forests are home to many of the world’s poor and marginalized Livelihoods and food security are the concerns of the poor – not carbon; Poverty is more than a lack of money Enormous potential to empower and enhance livelihoods exists

Food security Food security: millions already rely on the forest for food In a climate of volatile food prices, declining yields and changing climates: forests provide a safety net (wild plants and foods) Forests and trees provide biodiversity, fertilizers, and protection and enhancement of watersheds The “+” opens the door to agroforestry and thinking about the role of agriculture in achieving climate goals

Adaptation Adaptation of forests and forestry: making forests more resilient – Active, diverse management of landscapes can increase resilience Insect infestation in Canada Forest fires in Russia – If forests are not resilient communities will bear the burden. But communities also offer a solution, diverse production systems will allow for more stability Adaptation using forests: making people more resilient – Trees will reduce fragility of soil systems: controlling erosion, landslides – Adaptation through mitigation

Emerging complementarities One example, programs to restore degraded lands can increase sequestration capacities, and – Provide livelihood options for the rural poor and sources of food – Help adapt: Reduce vulnerability: landslides – Reduce water shortages; increase drought resistance; increase resistance to heavy waterfall – Restored forests can provide a source of energy But the conditions must be right: Lessons from countries that have reversed from Forest Losing Countries to Forest Adding countries (Gregersen and Bailey, forthcoming) – Major policy shifts: Large scale restoration with government support/attitude change – Tenure and governance reforms – Economic development We need to invest on underlying, cross-cutting initiatives that help address multiple crises – that strengthen rural society and build resilience

Can REDD+ contribute to solving the interconnected crises? “To reach scale, increase conservation and chances for resilience to climate, economic, political shocks – need to recognize the rights and unleash the entrepreneurial energies of the 1 billion forest poor” Recognition of the management capacities of forest communities Adapting requires having a firm leg to stand on: tenure rights provide a base for: – Long term incentives to maintain and enhance environment – Rights to move Appreciation of the forest as a source of food security

Questions Will REDD+ programs be able to deliver on the complementarities? Where are the possibilities for alleviating poverty in REDD+? Can we hang our forest adaptation hopes on REDD+?