Forests harbour a large proportion of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity, which continues to be lost at an alarming rate. Deforestation is the single most important driver of forest biodiversity loss with 10 million ha of forest converted every year to other land uses, primarily for agriculture. Up to 30 percent of tree species are now threatened with extinction. As a consequence of overexploitation, wildlife populations have also been depleted across vast areas of forest, threatening the survival of many species. Protected areas, which are considered the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, cover 18 percent of the world’s forests while a much larger 30 percent are designated primarily for the production of timber and non-wood forest products. These and other forests managed for various productive benefits play a critical role in biodiversity conservation and also provide essential ecosystem services, such as securing water supplies, providing recreational space, underpinning human well-being, ameliorating local climate and mitigating climate change. Therefore, the sustainable management of all forests is crucial for biodiversity conservation, and nations have committed to biodiversity mainstreaming under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Mainstreaming biodiversity in forestry requires prioritizing forest policies, plans, programmes, projects and investments that have a positive impact on biodiversity at the ecosystem, species and genetic levels. In practical terms, this involves the integration of biodiversity concerns into everyday forest management practice, as well as in long-term forest management plans, at various scales. It is a search for optimal outcomes across social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This study is a collaboration between FAO and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), lead centre of the CGIAR research programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). Illustrated by eight country case-studies, the report reviews progress and outlines the technical and policy tools available for countries and stakeholders, as well as the steps needed, to effectively mainstream biodiversity in forestry.
Tag: forestry policy
How forest data catalysed change in four successful case studies
This paper presents four case studies in which forest data catalysed shifts in public policy and corporate activities. Brazil greatly reduced deforestation during the period between 2005 and 2014; Cameroon introduced a structured forest concessions regime; Viet Nam achieved their forest transition; and corporate operations around the world invested in supply chain management to alleviate deforestation concerns. We break the problem-solving required for these achievements into four steps: problem recognition, proposal and choice of solution, putting the solution into effect, and monitoring results. At each of these steps, we consider the relevant forest data. Data helped place issues on policymaker agendas, supported reaching sound decisions and enabled quantitative targets. Policy instruments for implementing change were built around available data and forest monitoring helped evaluate progress. The details of these successes can be an inspiration to those interested in improving collection of data on forests that can effectively support decision-making and better policies. There have been impressive recent improvements to many developing countries’ national forest monitoring capabilities. The successful examples of data application presented and evaluated here provide insight into how these new data can be effectively leveraged.
Peru’s regulatory framework for carbon markets: Current legal and policy developments in the context of REDD+
Key messages
- As REDD+ moves to its results-based payments phase in a context of increasing net-zero pledges from governments and companies, different countries are implementing laws and regulations to frame how they will be compensated for emission reductions through carbon markets.
- In Peru, one of REDD+’s early movers, these developments include the proposed guidelines for the National Registry of Mitigation Actions (RENAMI in Spanish) and for the nesting process for existing early REDD+ initiatives.
- To participate in carbon markets, initiatives will be expected to register in RENAMI, administered by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) – Peru’s national REDD+ authority – which will verify, among other things, that the proponents hold carbon rights, are using an official quota of Peru’s forest emissions reference levels, and are complying with social safeguards.
- However, some regulatory uncertainties remain, such as the legal validity of emission reductions from initiatives that fail to register in RENAMI, or the extent of Peru’s National Environmental Fund (PROFONANPE in Spanish) mandate to receive, manage and distribute REDD+ results-based payments.
- Other countries will benefit from Peru’s experience developing new regulations, technical rules and procedures for REDD+ carbon markets, including experiences with multistakeholder consultation processes that allow for feedback before the rules are finalized and implemented.
- In this Infobrief we take stock of Peru’s regulatory framework to understand how public and private actors may sell emission reductions to carbon markets, and review draft regulations under public consultation to assess where government rules are heading. Once implemented, future research would be needed to assess the effectiveness of these regulations in the market and on the ground.