UN-REDD National Programme in Sri Lanka hereafter referred to as the REDD+ National Joint Programme (NJP) seeks to assist in the development of an effective REDD regime and to contribute to reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka” in the period 2011-2014. A draft document named “National Programme Document Sri Lanka” has been prepared.
Overall management and coordination of the Sri Lanka Programme is by the FD and UNDP Sri Lanka is the UN-REDD managing agency.
The draft report recommends establishing a multi-stakeholder National REDD+ Programme Management Committee (NPMC). It mentions a wide range of stakeholder participation including relevant UN agencies, Ministries and Government institutions (i.e., Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Wildlife & Agrarian Services, Ministry of Provincial Councils, Forest Department (FD), Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) etc), NGOs, relevant Provincial Secretaries, District and Divisional Secretaries; District and local level Forest Department staff, private sector institutions and local level civil society organizations.
The Programme will focus on participatory REDD+ management for poverty reduction and livelihood improvement. It proposes to set up institutional and legal arrangements to generate increased opportunities for the stakeholders, but tenure arrangements are not specifically mentioned.
An effective REDD+ strategy will be achieved through updated and improved legislation, improved enforcement and participatory community forestry approaches with benefit sharing, and capacity building of the stakeholders.
One major outcome is the development of Reference Emission Scenarios. The recommended actions include establishing a technical working group, reviewing methodologies already available and developing methodologies applicable for the country.
The draft states that adequate consideration has been provided on the aspects of community participation, improved accountability, protection of human rights, gender, environmental issues, etc. It also mentions that the participatory REDD+ programme will contribute to improving the capacity of local level stakeholders to create good governance.
The Programme will help establish a Forest Resource Inventory System combining satellite imagery and field sampling. It will cover natural forests, forest plantations and other tree based land use types such as home gardens. The rate of deforestation and forest degradation and resultant change in carbon stocks could be assessed periodically by using the proposed inventory system.
The Programme proposes to design standards and a monitoring system for REDD+ pilot projects and their impacts and to generate REDD+ experience at the local level with the participation of communities.
| Institution | Role |
|---|---|
| Forest Department (Sri Lanka) | implementation |
| Institution | Type | Amount USD | Date of Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Nations Development Programme Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office |
 |
$4,070,000 | Date of agreement: 1 July 2011 |
