The session will begin with a short video highlighting the connection between Indigenous Peoples, local communities and climate change, and a summary of the recent RRI/WRI report Securing Rights. The Governance Environment and Markets Initiative at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (GEM) will present findings on the processes and factors that underlie the emergence, diffusion, and effectiveness of community forest rights and institutions in developing countries. Policy-makers will then discuss the relationship between community forestry and the emerging landscape and climate policy agenda. During an open discussion, panelists and participants shall try to develop recommendations on how to strengthen the rights of Indigenous Peoples in REDD+, forest and landscape governance.

By discussing how securing rights can serve as proven and cost-effective climate change mitigation strategy, the session will build bridges between policy-makers, practitioners, and scholars.

Key questions addressed:

1. How might this new research encourage the protection and restoration of indigenous territories and community forests threatened by deforestation or other degraded forest landscapes at risk, and what is the broader message that can be derived from this research?
2. How and to what extent can community forest rights and institutions be integrated with REDD+ instruments and mechanisms as well as other climate interventions, investments, and projects?
3. What tools does this research create to better secure forest rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities and increase the area of forest effectively protected and managed by these communities?

Event Resources:

Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change: How Strengthening Community Forest Rights Mitigates Climate Change

For more information visit the event page here.