Background and Objectives

 

 

The climate change debate has refocused the world’s attention on forest landscapes. Asia occupies a unique position in this debate as it contains some of the world’s largest deforesting countries. At the same time, the rich and perse experiences to date in Asian countries on improving forest cover as well as livelihoods through community forestry approaches provide lessons that could enrich the policy processes not only in Asia but the rest of the world as well. It is in this context the Asia Dialogue on Community Forests and Property Rights in the Context of Climate Change will take place on August 11 and 12, 2010 at the Park Village Hotel and Resort, Budha Nila Kantha, Kathmandu, Nepal. As we move towards Cancún, this is an important juncture at which an open dialogue on this issue can establish a fruitful platform through which the emerging REDD+ architecture and approaches can be considerably enhanced.   

 

Following on the successes of the Global Dialogue Series on Forests, Governance and Climate Change (with four events in London and Washington DC over the 2009-2010 period). RRI is now holding a series of Regional Dialogues in Fall 2010. In the context of Asia, one of the primary areas in the vibrant debate about how to make REDD+ successful is the issue of community forests and tenure rights. What are the key lessons to be learned for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation from those countries in Asia that have enthusiastically adopted a community forestry approach? In what way is security of tenure crucial for ensuring forest protection within communities? And most importantly, what are the implications of these lessons for developing a robust REDD+ architecture in Asia? As such, the aim of this Dialogue is to continue to create a space for frank discussion on the global and national developments on forests and climate change, with a particular focus on the inter-linkages between community forests, property rights, governance, finance, and equity in Asia.   

 

This upcoming Dialogue will:   

1. Take stock of the lessons learned from the linkages between community forests, forest tenure, livelihoods and carbon outcomes in Asia; 
2. Assess the status of community forests and forest tenure in REDD+ countries in Asia; 
3. Examine the relationship between key drivers of deforestation and climate change; 
4. Listen to perse voices on options available for promoting community forests, livelihoods and climate protection in Asia; 
5. Examine the emerging REDD+ architecture and relationship to community forests and property rights in Asian countries; and 
6. Discuss the way forward to Cancún. 

Participants and panelists from Asia and around the world will be asked to reflect on opportunities offered by the revitalized focus on forests due to climate change and how these can consolidate community forest rights. Importantly, the meeting will close with a discussion on the way forward that will focus on emerging REDD+ architecture and financial arrangements to ensure that community rights are not compromised. 

    Organizing Partners      

This event will be co-hosted by the Rights and Resources Initiative and the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and in collaboration with FECOFUN, Swiss Intercooperation, and the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC).

Additional Resources

 

Agenda

 

List of Participants

 

Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons - analysis by Arun Agrawal and Ashwini Chhatre

Dialogue Presentations:

• Opening remarks of the 2010 RRI Asia Dialogue on Community Forests and Property Rights in the Context of Climate Change H.E. Dr. Thomas Gass, Embassy of Switzerland and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Kathmandu, Nepal

• An Overview of Community Forestry in Asia Yam Malla, RECOFTC
• Transformations in Forest Tenure and Governance in Asia Ganga Ram Dahal, Rights and Resources Initiative
• Drivers of Tradeoffs and Synergies on Forest Commons: Carbon, Community and Livelihoods Arun Agrawal, University of Michigan
• REDD+ Reality: Lessons Going Forward on Forest Tenure and Governance Nayna Jhaveri, Rights and Resources Initiative
• An attempt to summarize our current knowledge on the drivers of forest loss and degradation, or: Why it is really hard to determine what the exact causes are and what the outcome of REDD+ interventions will be? Phil Shearman, University of Papua New Guinea Remote Sensing Centre
• Voices of Indigenous People and Local Communities on Forests and Climate Change Bharat Pokharel, Intercooperation Nepal
• REDD+ Financial Architecture, Safeguards and Asian Countries Arvind Khare, Rights and Resources Initiative

  Additional Remarks:    

• China's Forestland Tenure Reforms: Implications to REDD+ Li Ping, Rural Development Institute RDI) - China
• Forestland-use, Community Forest and REDD+ Program in Indonesia Context Yana Juhana, Forest Planning Office, Bangka-Belitung Province - Indonesia
• Drivers of Deforestation and Climate Change: Challenging the Fundamentals Sreetama Guptabhaya, Kalpavriksh - India
• GACF, Connecting Forest and People's Voices Together: Making Voices of Forest People to be Heard Ghan Shyam Pandey, GACF - Nepal
• Thailand Community Forest Networks: Lessons for Policy Innovation Somporn Panto, Kanchanaburi Community Forest Network - Thailand
• Forest Rights Act of India: Issues and Concerns in the Context of Climate Change and REDD Tushar Dash, Vasundhara - India
• Remarks by Laxmidhar Balia, Odisha Jangal Manch - India
• The Community Forestry Network in the Philippines Rex A Bajade, Guipis Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc. (CBFM-PO) - Philippines
• Emerging REDD+ Architecture and Stakeholder Engagement in Nepal Krishna P. Acharya, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation - Nepal
• Emerging REDD+ Architecture: Implications for the Philippines' Community-Based Forest Management Juan Pulhin, University of the Philippines Los Baños