Optimising multiple benefits of sustainable forest management and REDD-plus

5 December, 2010 - 14:30 - 16:00
Location
Address: 
Isla Mujeres, Cancun Center, Conventions and Exhibitions Boulevard Kukulcan KM. 9 1er Piso Zona Hotelera
Country: 
Mexico

Cohosts - GEF and UNEP UN-REDD

Forest Day 4 - Learning event

Forests provide a wide range of environmental services, including biodiversity conservation, water supply management, carbon sequestration, flood control, and protection against soil erosion and desertification. About 10 million people worldwide are employed in forest management and conservation and it is estimated that 1.6 billion people—including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures—depend on forests for their livelihoods. Recognition of the huge potential of forests in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions has opened substantial prospects for the establishment of major investments to a sector that has been historically overlooked. However, it becomes increasingly obvious that not all forests will (equally) benefit from an expected agreement on REDD+. This learning event discusses the challenges in optimising multiple environmental and social benefits from sustainable forest management.

Key questions

  1. What should be the relative emphasis of climate benefits versus other potential environmental and social benefits in REDD+? 
  2. How can the optimisation of multiple environmental and social benefits from SFM or REDD+ be encouraged or rewarded? 
  3. Which safeguards should be built into REDD+ activities to ensure that other benefits associated with forests are not negatively affected?

Chair
Ravi Prabhu, Senior Programme Officer, Forests and Climate Change with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Keynote address
‘Synergies and trade-offs in the benefits provided by REDD+’
Sven Wunder, Principal Economist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

Panellists

  • Joanna Durbin, Director, Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance 
  • Gustavo Fonseca, Team Leader, Natural Resources, Global Environment Facility
  • Rubin Rashidi, member of Climate Working Group on REDD, Democratic Republic of Congo

Contact
GEF, Dirk Gaul, dgaul [at] thegef.org
UNEP UN-REDD, Julie Greenwalt, Julie.greenwalt [at] unep.org

Topic: 
Biodiversity | Ecosystem Services