REDD countries

The Forest Department with support from UN REDD is currently drafting the National Joint Program (NJP) for building REDD readiness over a three-year period from 2011-14. The REDD Readiness Proposal is to be finalized and submitted to the UN-REDD 7^th Policy Board meeting by October, 2011. The NJP will work towards developing a national REDD+ strategy with stakeholder participation and consensus. It will also start a participatory process to revise the National Forest Policy (NFP) and Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) to incorporate REDD requirements (Bandaratillake, 2011)

The National Forest Policy of 1995 governs all forestry activities in the country except for the protected areas managed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC). It aims to use participatory management approaches to protect the remaining natural forests for conservation purposes, increase tree cover and productivity in other areas for forest products and services, and contribute to rural welfare. It also seeks to promote tree-growing outside forest areas for production, protection and livelihood needs. The National Policy on Wildlife Conservation (2000) declares the government’s commitment to conserve wildlife resources and manage protected areas effectively with the participation of local communities. Other policies and programs of potential relevance to REDD include the National Environmental Policy (2003), National Watershed Management Policy (2004), National Policy on Wetlands (2005), National Action Plan for Haritha (Green) Lanka Programme (2008), and the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Sri Lanka 2011 to 2016 (2010). In Sri Lanka, provincial and district level activities and responsibilities are referred to in the national plans and policies and there are no specific provincial or district level plans and policies related to natural resource management and use.