Policy makers and practitioners face significant governance challenges that must be addressed in order to achieve the successful long-term sequestration of carbon on forested lands. Identifying successful models for devolving authority over forests to local stakeholders, managing conflicting claims over forests and the underlying lands, and ensuring the participation of local stakeholders in decisions regarding the distribution and use of benefits derived from successful carbon sequestration are all important aspects of Deforestation and Forest Degradation as well as augmentation of existing carbon stocks (REDD+) efforts to mitigate global climate change.
Over the past year, the USAID Land Tenure and Property Rights Division has produced a series of reports that look at risks and opportunities for land tenure as it relates to REDD+; case studies on property rights issues related to forest carbon; and case studies on experiences with benefit-sharing from projects in a number of countries, including Mexico, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Nepal and Mozambique. We have also produced a guidebook about REDD+ and Carbon Rights and an Institutional Assessment Tool for Benefit Sharing under REDD+, both of which are intended to help USAID Mission staff and others better understand these complex issues and address them in relevant programming.
We invite you to download and use them and, as always, welcome your feedback, including recommendations for improvement or additional tools and methods. If you have any question about these or issues related to tenure, property rights, and climate change, please contact Peter Giampaoli of the Land Tenure and Property Rights Division.
REDD+ Overview and Property Rights
Land Tenure and REDD+: Risks to Property Rights and Opportunities for Economic Growth
International REDD+ Institutions and the Role of Land Tenure and Property Rights
Carbon Rights
REDD+ and Carbon Rights: Case Studies
REDD+ and Carbon Rights: Lessons from the Field
Forest Carbon Rights: A Tool for Framing Legal Rights to Carbon Benefits Generated Through REDD+ Programming
Devolution of Forest Rights
Devolution of Forest Rights and Sustainable Forest Management, Volume 1: A Review of Policies and Programs in 16 Developing Countries
Devolution of Forest Rights and Sustainable Forest Management, Volume 2: Case Studies
Sharing REDD+ benefits
Analysis of Institutional Mechanisms for Sharing REDD+ Benefits: Case Studies
Analysis of Institutional Mechanisms for Sharing REDD+ Benefits
Institutional Assessment Tool for Benefit Sharing Under REDD+