Greening REDD+: Challenges and opportunities for forest biodiversity conservation (updated version)

This policy paper is an output of the research project “The protection of forests under global biodiversity and climate policy”, a cooperation between the Institute of Forest and Environmental Policy (IFP)1 and the Institute for Landscape Management2, both University of Freiburg. The project is financially supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The project aims at developing approaches for the currently evolving REDD+ mechanism that deliver synergetic effects for achievement of international climate and biodiversity objectives under the UNFCCC and the CBD, respectively. In light of this, the paper aims to provide scientific background and analyses as well as practicable policy options for the ongoing policy processes. It is the second revised and updated edition of a first paper that was published and circulated in September 2010 prior to the CBD negotiations at COP10 in Nagoya, Japan, and the subsequent COP16 of the UNFCCC in Cancún, Mexico. Since the publication of the first paper the issue of biodiversity under REDD+ has gained additional momentum under both processes, and unexpectedly some progress was made; yet, many of the challenges lined out already in the first paper have remained unresolved. We thus hope that our options and recommendations can provide valuable input to the upcoming meetings and negotiations.