Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): A Casebook of On-the-Ground Experience

Advances in technology and practical implementation experience have created a growing body of research and evidence that reducing carbon emissions through forest conservation can be a credible part of the fight against climate change (IPCC, 2007c; FAO, 2005). Existing projects, spearheaded by organizations such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Conservation International (CI) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), have provided the basis for groundbreaking methodologies in estimating, preventing and mitigating leakage, setting project baselines, and verifying carbon benefits. These projects have not only resulted in climate change mitigation, but also valuable community and biodiversity benefits, creating a win-win-win situation.

This report explores the primary challenges in demonstrating this credibility, including:

• Demonstrating that the climate benefits from REDD are additional (i.e. would not have happened anyway).

• Setting realistic baselines (i.e. business-as-usual scenarios). 

• Measuring, monitoring, reporting and verifying the carbon stocks preserved in forests and actual emissions avoided. 

• Addressing leakage (i.e. the shifting of emissions elsewhere). 

• Managing risks to the permanence of the emissions reductions generated (i.e. strength in avoiding potential reversals). 

• Ensuring the involvement of and benefits to local and indigenous peoples.

• Ensuring such efforts enhance, rather than undermine, environmental co-benefits. 

• Expanding the scale and scope of REDD efforts.