Introduction to REDD for Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon

Through recognition that many of the Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon basin have yet to acquire adequate information about REDD to participate in its design and implementation and that knowledge inherent to many Indigenous Peoples’ traditional and cultural practices fails to inform the international REDD process, the Forum on Readiness for REDD, at the invitation of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), convened three national-level workshops on REDD for Indigenous Peoples in the countries of Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia in September and October 2009. The workshops identified and addressed the gaps in information among COICA members on REDD and climate change, the UNFCCC REDD process, and the potential role of REDD in forest protection and sustainable development. Participants also shared lessons in forest management and sustainable forest use.

A key goal of the workshops was to enable participants to become more actively engaged in the REDD process at the local, regional and international level. In addition, the workshops aided in building the capacity of participants to analyze and make proposals for REDD design and implementation in their territories and countries. The workshops were attended by over 100 indigenous participants from three countries and were followed by 2-day technical workshops led by Woods Hole Research Center scientists on forest measurement and monitoring under the Pan-Tropical Mapping of Forest-Cover and Biomass project.

This project was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.