Engaging local communities in the fight against climate change

Stakeholders, indigenous peoples, and local communities are in a position to access results-based finance. They address threats to forests, and ultimately reduce emissions from this sector.

Why

Key actors engaged in land use decision-making does not adequately recognize standings forests as natural capital. That is why forest conservation cannot compete against other land uses.

Even as REDD+ as a concept and practice is progressing within countries, tangible policies or incentives to reduce the main drivers of deforestation and degradation are slow to materialize.

Furthermore, as historic stewards of their environments, forest and indigenous communities are often the most at risk from and the least empowered to address climate change and its drivers.

WWF changes this reality by working towards effective REDD+ implementation through participatory forest management projects. These projects safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, empowering them to tap into international financial frameworks to preserve their forests and reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. 

This project is implemented by WWF country offices in Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana, Indonesia, and Peru, with technical and logistical support from WWF’s Forest and Climate team.

Demonstrated results are the most powerful inspiration and driver of REDD+ consensus on further financial support, commitments, and action. Thus, the most significant trigger for consensus will be demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ - that performance-based incentives can be harnessed at significant scale to generate meaningful reductions in deforestation and degradation while respecting social and environmental safeguards.

The project will support participatory processes and foster political consensus, from forest communities to international finance institutions, with a keen understanding that the pathway to achieving and maintaining these results must be socially and politically sustainable.

Empowerment local and indigenous communities will be a key effort. This will be done to improve and enhance the stewardship of their territories and to achieve an effective participation in REDD+ related initiatives, policies and measures.

To guarantee sustainability, this has to be accompanied by the strengthening of the local, regional and national governments and their institutional frameworks. WWF will achieve this through a range of interventions. Examples: Targeted research and advocacy to inform and shape policy and short-term technical support for the development and implementation of safeguards and MRV (monitoring, reporting and verifying) systems.

WWF will focus on ensuring the key actors are adequately engaged, in REDD+ and land-use planning, and on engaging major private sector actors in the design of interventions to address primary drivers.

Expected Results

By 2020:

• At least $500 million will be disbursed globally to support successful interventions that reduce emissions from the forest sector;
• At least three national financial mechanisms effectively disburse over $100 million to indigenous and local communities;
• In at least two countries, indigenous people and local communities are effectively stewarding their territories, receiving benefits, and are able to contain the drivers of deforestation;
• In at least one country, private and financial sector actors have tested approaches resulting in deforestation-free supply chains;
• Lessons learned, recommendations, and evidence of successful strategies have strengthened international consensus on REDD+.

Partners

Colombia

• Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS)
• Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM)
• CorpoAmazonia
• Amazon Institute of Scientific Research (SINCHI)
• Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the Colombia Amazon (OPIAC)

Democratic Republic of Congo

• National coordinating committee for REDD+ (CN-REDD)
• Mai Ndombe, Provincial Ministry of Environment
• Moabi DRC
• The Central Africa Forest Ecosystems Conservation (CAFEC)

Guyana

• The government of Guyana
• Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC)
• North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB)
• Kanuku Mountains Community Representative Group (KMCRG)
• South Central People’s Development Association (SCPDA)
• University of Florida, Gainesville (UF)
• University of Guyana (UG)

Indonesia

• Ministry of Environment and Forestry
• East Kalimantan Province Council for Climate Change (DDPI)
• Kutai Barat and Mahakam Ulu Districts
• International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
• Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice, World Bank, Jakarta

Peru

• National Forest Conservation Program for Climate Change Mitigation (PNCBMCC)
• Asociación Interétnica para el Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP)
• The Native Federation of the Madre de Dios River and Tributaries (FENAMAD)
• Universidad Nacional de Madre de Dios (UNAMAD)
• Local Governments in Madre de Dios department in Tambopata and Tahuamanu