Grassroot newsletter Issue 6 Fin
Issue 6: May 2015
REDD+
Grassroots
Newsletter
Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+
Training and Capacity Building of Forest Sector Grassroots Stakeholders for
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Asia
HIGHLIGHTS
•
Gender mainstreaming in REDD+ capacity development furthered in
Lao PDR.
•
Project activities extended to a new area in Myanmar.
•
Engaging media in awareness-raising through media fellowships in Nepal
and radio program and video production in Viet Nam.
•
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visits the Grassroots Project
area in the Sagain region in northern Myanmar.
•
Regional reflection workshop takes place in Yangon, Myanmar.
INDONESIA: GRASSROOTS CONCERNS
AND ISSUES DOCUMENTED
Indonesia country program team with its partners conducted
a series of grassroots consultations in four different locations:
Berau in East Kalimantan, Bantaeng in South Sulawesi, Lombok
in West Nusa Tenggara and Ternate in North Maluku. These
consultations aimed to gather issues and concerns from grassroots
stakeholders related to climate change and REDD+ in particular,
and sustainable forest management (SFM) in general.
In Berau, YAKOBI organized consultations with religious leaders
to capture their perspectives on climate change, as they have
been engaged in the grassroots level awareness in the project. It
was the first such consultation process for the religious leaders,
which had support from Nadhlatul Ulama, one of largest Islamic
organizations in Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Forclime
and REDD+ Task Force in Berau.
Grassroots consultation with religious leaders in Berau
In Bantaeng, the district level consultations were jointly organized
by Forum Komunikasi Kehutanan Masyarakat (FKKM) and Balang,
while in Lombok and Ternate, the consultations were jointly
conducted by FKKM and the Samdhana Institute.
In general, participants were familiar with the issues related to
climate change, but their understanding on REDD+ was still very
limited. One of the reasons identified for this limited understanding
is the absence of any REDD+ pilot sites in the region.
FKKM used an ‘appreciative inquiry approach’ to capture the
existing issues and concerns of the grassroots stakeholders with
regards to climate change and SFM. A summary of some of the
key concerns and issues is presented in Box 1. The Indonesia
project team now plans to summarize the responses compiled
from the consultations and then share them at the national
level, thus bringing the voices of grassroots stakeholders up to
the national and sub-national level of policymaking discourse
on climate change.
A participant from Lombok Barat Forestry Services explains the results of a
multi-stakeholder district-level focus group discussion on initiatives related to
community forestry and climate change issues.
A group discussion on prioritizing grassroots issues and concerns on forests and climate change topics
2
Box 1: Summary of key issues and concerns of grassroots stakeholders in Indonesia
• Grassroots stakeholders’ understanding on forest and climate change issues needs further improvement. So far,
awareness raising efforts have been scattered by various organizations. The efforts need to be coordinated and
integrated for better results.
• In West Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, the stakeholders highlighted the conflict between the downstream and
upstream villagers over accessing resources, including water and land, as a major concern. Setting up an upstreamdownstream forum along the watershed was suggested as one of the options to address this challenge.
• In the archipelago area, the participants highlighted the important role of mangroves in climate change mitigation
and adaptation. They also highlighted the vulnerability of the smaller islands to climate change impacts. Conservation
of fresh water resources in the upstream areas was also discussed as one of the local residents’ immediate needs,
and therefore should be addressed on a priority basis by the concerned authorities.
• Participants highlighted the needs of mainstreaming climate change concerns into economic development. A
bottom up approach is needed to plan for such integration involving the participation of village-level stakeholders
at the provincial level.
• Participants also highlighted the need of integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation related topics
into formal and alternative school curricula.
• Legitimate and fair access to natural resources should be granted for those who protect ecosystems through
cultural and traditional practices.
• Stakeholders require better understanding of ecosystem services and their possible application for promoting fair
and equitable access to natural resources.
LAO PDR: STRENGTHENING GENDER IN
REDD+ CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
Over the last three to four months, the Lao PDR project team focused
implementation primarily on furthering gender mainstreaming
in REDD+ capacity development. The team partnered with the
Women Advancement Committee under the Department of
Forestry (DoF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), and
organized a planning workshop for designing and delivering
capacity development programs to strengthen understanding of
the stakeholders on the importance of gender mainstreaming in
climate change, REDD+ and SFM. Based on participatory discussions,
the capacity development plan for gender mainstreaming in
REDD+ includes delivering training of trainers (ToT) programs
at the national and sub-national levels, followed by community
awareness-raising at the village level in three target provinces:
Luang Prabang, Houaphan and Salavan. The Lao PDR project
team has also worked closely with other partner organization,
Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) to continue
strengthening the capacity of youths through grassroots consultation
workshops in the three target provinces.
MYANMAR: REDD+ CAPACITY
DEVELOPMENT EXTENDED TO NEW
PROJECT AREA
The Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation
Association (FREDA) is a new partner organization in Myanmar.
It is currently involved in implementing capacity development
programs on climate change and REDD+ in Bogalay Township,
Pyapon district in the Ayeyarwaddy Region. The organization
has also already conducted its first four-day sub-national REDD+
ToT program during the first week of February. A total of 24
participants, 10 of which were women, attended this ToT. The
participants were representatives of local communities, CSOs and
forest departments. The training focused on the topics of climate
change; the role of forests in climate change adaptation and
mitigation; REDD+ and the requirements for its implementation;
carbon trading; REDD+ in the context of SFM and community
forestry (CF); and REDD+ safeguards, including Free, Prior and
Informed Consent (FPIC) and gender in REDD+. Participants
reported that following the training, they better understood the
majority of the topics of the program, though some participants
wanted to learn more about carbon measurement. The training
program prepared participants to share their new knowledge
within their organizations. Some of the participants will also
be facilitating community-level trainings in selected villages of
the project area.
A training participant group presents on REDD+ issues and concerns
Group photo of the sub-national level ToT training
3
NEPAL: ENGAGING MEDIA IN REDD+
AWARENESS RAISING
Reaching grassroots stakeholders through journalists was one
of the key highlights of the project activities in Nepal over the
last period. The Nepal project team created a media fellowship
program, which awarded fellowships to selected journalists
and encouraged them to bring the key concerns and issues of
grassroots stakeholders into the public domain through their
writing in local publications. ForestAction, one of the project
implementing partners in Nepal, first briefed the local media on
REDD+ and climate change. Then, the organization supported
and encouraged the journalists to produce investigative stories on
REDD+ and climate change as a part of development journalism.
Five media fellows, including one woman and a member of the
Madheshi social group, were selected from five districts: Ilam,
Dang, Kailali, Rupendehi and Sarlahi, which represent five different
development regions of Nepal. The fellows from Kailali, Dang and
Rupendehi were assigned to develop at least two investigative
stories on REDD+ and SFM while the fellows from Ilam and
Sarlahi wrote stories on REDD+, FPIC and gender equity. Each
fellow received both thematic and technical support from Forest
Action throughout the three-month fellowship period. Through
this initiative, 17 articles were published: nine in national daily
publications, including two in English language publications,
and eight in district-level daily newspapers. Visit www.recoftc.
org/project/grassroots-capacity-building-redd/news-and-features/
media-fellowship-articles to read the articles.
VIET NAM: REACHING OUT TO
GRASSROOTS STAKEHOLDERS
THROUGH RADIO AND VIDEO
The Viet Nam project team has finalized the production of a
video and a series of radio programs to raise the awareness of
grassroots stakeholder on the topics of climate change, REDD+
and SFM.
The video, titled “People at the heart of climate change and
forests,” illustrates the links between community forestry and
REDD+. The video highlights two success stories of community
forests, specifically focusing on their strong commitment to
developing their forests and enhancing their livelihoods through
a range of forest benefits including water for local irrigation,
fodder for the livestock, firewood for cooking, as well as other
timber and non-timber products. Visit http://www.recoftc.org/
node/38149 to watch the video.
The series of radio programs is currently being broadcast, consisting
of 10 episodes. The content of the radio series covers a range
of topics, including REDD+, the causes and impacts of climate
change, SFM and REDD+ safeguards, including FPIC and gender
equity. The series kicked off its broadcast through load speaker
channels in seven districts of four project provinces during the
third week of April. The series runs through mid- June.
In addition to writing articles for daily news papers, the fellows were
also assigned to produce interactive radio programs on REDD+ and
climate change for local radio stations in their respective districts.
Altogether, 25 such episodes were produced, which highlighted
grassroots concerns and issues related to climate change and
REDD+. This engagement with local media was received well
by the key stakeholders, including local government officials.
REGIONAL REFLECTION WORKSHOP 2015
Similar to previous years, the Grassroots Project organized its
annual reflection workshop in Yangon, Myanmar during 6-9
January 2015 to review the progress of the project and to provide
opportunities for its country teams and partner organizations
to share their challenges and key lessons learned. The workshop
also provided an opportunity for country teams to learn from
each other and develop their annual plans of action for the
coming year. A one-day field visit to one of the project sites in
Yateshae Tonwship in the Bago Region was also organized to
promote learning between the country teams. Friends of Wildlife
(FoW), one of the Grassroots Project’s partner organizations in
Myanmar, facilitated the field visit, which demonstrated the
process of organizing grassroots consultations.
(i) unclear tenure and land ownership in REDD+ pilot areas; (ii)
a lack of livelihood opportunities for community members; (iii)
greater participation needed in stakeholder engagement; and
(iv) enhancement of technical capacity on SFM.
During the group discussions held over the course of the four
days, the country project teams reflected on the stakeholder
consultations they have been organizing in their respective
countries and shared lessons learned. The workshop participants
identified several key grassroots stakeholders’ concerns and issues:
Consultation with local villagers during ield visit
4
NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR TO MYANMAR
VISITS THE NAGALAND REGION
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visited one of the
Grassroots Project’s sites in Layshi Township in the Nagaland
region. The objectives of the visit was to update the Ambassador
on the progress of the project in Myanmar and to show the
awareness-raising activities on climate change and REDD+ taking
place on the ground. The visit was jointly organized by RECOFTC’s
Myanmar Country Program and the country team of the Wildlife
Conservation Society, one of the key partners of the Grassroots
Project in Myanmar.
The Ambassador, along with RECOFTC staff participated in a
consultation meeting with the villagers of the Grassroots Project
site. During the meeting, the participants shared their knowledge
about climate change and REDD+ and also raised concerns about
shifting cultivation, one of their key livelihood options, but which
is one of the key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation
in the area. The majority of the participants did indeed realize the
negative impacts of this practice on the structure and composition
of the surrounding forest areas and showed willingness to take
part in finding an appropriate solution in order to minimize the
impacts of deforestation and forest degradation.
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visits a Grassroots Project site
•
FPIC in REDD+: Myanmar
This question and answer booklet
on FPIC in the context of REDD+ was
developed to support local trainers
and facilitators who are engaged
in delivering REDD+ training and
capacity development, and who
have a basic understanding of these
subjects. The booklet is available at
http://www.recoftc.org/node/38147.
•
Free, prior, and informed
consent in REDD+: Principles and
approaches for policy and project
development in Myanmar language
The FPIC guidebook is now available
in Myanmar language. It will be
used for delivering grassroots-level
trainings on FPIC in Myanmar.
The guidebook is available for
download at http://www.recoftc.
org/node/38146.
•
A Fair Climate: Gender Equity in Forestry and REDD+ Video,
Sub-title in Nepali
This video explains the concept of gender equity in the context of
forest communities and it is provided for grassroots stakeholders
and community forestry practitioners to improve gender
equity on the ground. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/
watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8F7ihODyFcM
5
REDD+ READINESS MOVES FORWARD IN LAO PDR
REDD+ development in Lao PDR is moving rapidly. The country has been receiving support
from many development agencies to start REDD+ pilot activities, including the recently received
US$3.6 million from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank to be used
between 2014 and 2017 for supporting REDD+ readiness. The Department of Forestry (DoF)
has been selected as the focal agency for utilizing the FCPF money, specifically to kick-start
consultations with a range of REDD+ readiness stakeholders. The consultations began in midFebruary and the program is currently focused in two provinces: Huoaphan and Champasak.
The key planned activities include: i) developing national REDD+ strategies; ii) developing
reference emission levels; iii) designing measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems;
and iv) setting up REDD+ national management arrangements with the proper safeguards
included. This REDD+ initiative could prove a big step forward for Lao PDR in strengthening
and speeding up REDD+ development in the country.
Phonsay Khammavong
National Project
Coordinator in Lao PDR
This newsletter is published by:
Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+ in Asia
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
P.O. Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office
Bangkok 10903, Thailand
REDDgrassroots@recoftc.org
http://www.recoftc.org/project/grassroots-capacity-building-redd
Copyright © 2015 RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests gives permission to make digital or hard copies of portions or all of this work
for educational or non-commercial purposes without fee or prior written consent provided the copies are not made or distributed for profit or
commercial advantage and that the source is fully acknowledged. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on
servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission. Send written requests for republication to RECOFTC – The Center for People
and Forests, P.O. Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office, Bangkok 10903, Thailand. Please email your queries to REDDgrassroots@recoftc.org
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests and Norwegian
Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). We disclaim any errors or omissions in the translation of this document from the original version
in English into other languages.
Issue 6: May 2015
REDD+
Grassroots
Newsletter
Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+
Training and Capacity Building of Forest Sector Grassroots Stakeholders for
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Asia
HIGHLIGHTS
•
Gender mainstreaming in REDD+ capacity development furthered in
Lao PDR.
•
Project activities extended to a new area in Myanmar.
•
Engaging media in awareness-raising through media fellowships in Nepal
and radio program and video production in Viet Nam.
•
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visits the Grassroots Project
area in the Sagain region in northern Myanmar.
•
Regional reflection workshop takes place in Yangon, Myanmar.
INDONESIA: GRASSROOTS CONCERNS
AND ISSUES DOCUMENTED
Indonesia country program team with its partners conducted
a series of grassroots consultations in four different locations:
Berau in East Kalimantan, Bantaeng in South Sulawesi, Lombok
in West Nusa Tenggara and Ternate in North Maluku. These
consultations aimed to gather issues and concerns from grassroots
stakeholders related to climate change and REDD+ in particular,
and sustainable forest management (SFM) in general.
In Berau, YAKOBI organized consultations with religious leaders
to capture their perspectives on climate change, as they have
been engaged in the grassroots level awareness in the project. It
was the first such consultation process for the religious leaders,
which had support from Nadhlatul Ulama, one of largest Islamic
organizations in Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Forclime
and REDD+ Task Force in Berau.
Grassroots consultation with religious leaders in Berau
In Bantaeng, the district level consultations were jointly organized
by Forum Komunikasi Kehutanan Masyarakat (FKKM) and Balang,
while in Lombok and Ternate, the consultations were jointly
conducted by FKKM and the Samdhana Institute.
In general, participants were familiar with the issues related to
climate change, but their understanding on REDD+ was still very
limited. One of the reasons identified for this limited understanding
is the absence of any REDD+ pilot sites in the region.
FKKM used an ‘appreciative inquiry approach’ to capture the
existing issues and concerns of the grassroots stakeholders with
regards to climate change and SFM. A summary of some of the
key concerns and issues is presented in Box 1. The Indonesia
project team now plans to summarize the responses compiled
from the consultations and then share them at the national
level, thus bringing the voices of grassroots stakeholders up to
the national and sub-national level of policymaking discourse
on climate change.
A participant from Lombok Barat Forestry Services explains the results of a
multi-stakeholder district-level focus group discussion on initiatives related to
community forestry and climate change issues.
A group discussion on prioritizing grassroots issues and concerns on forests and climate change topics
2
Box 1: Summary of key issues and concerns of grassroots stakeholders in Indonesia
• Grassroots stakeholders’ understanding on forest and climate change issues needs further improvement. So far,
awareness raising efforts have been scattered by various organizations. The efforts need to be coordinated and
integrated for better results.
• In West Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, the stakeholders highlighted the conflict between the downstream and
upstream villagers over accessing resources, including water and land, as a major concern. Setting up an upstreamdownstream forum along the watershed was suggested as one of the options to address this challenge.
• In the archipelago area, the participants highlighted the important role of mangroves in climate change mitigation
and adaptation. They also highlighted the vulnerability of the smaller islands to climate change impacts. Conservation
of fresh water resources in the upstream areas was also discussed as one of the local residents’ immediate needs,
and therefore should be addressed on a priority basis by the concerned authorities.
• Participants highlighted the needs of mainstreaming climate change concerns into economic development. A
bottom up approach is needed to plan for such integration involving the participation of village-level stakeholders
at the provincial level.
• Participants also highlighted the need of integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation related topics
into formal and alternative school curricula.
• Legitimate and fair access to natural resources should be granted for those who protect ecosystems through
cultural and traditional practices.
• Stakeholders require better understanding of ecosystem services and their possible application for promoting fair
and equitable access to natural resources.
LAO PDR: STRENGTHENING GENDER IN
REDD+ CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
Over the last three to four months, the Lao PDR project team focused
implementation primarily on furthering gender mainstreaming
in REDD+ capacity development. The team partnered with the
Women Advancement Committee under the Department of
Forestry (DoF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), and
organized a planning workshop for designing and delivering
capacity development programs to strengthen understanding of
the stakeholders on the importance of gender mainstreaming in
climate change, REDD+ and SFM. Based on participatory discussions,
the capacity development plan for gender mainstreaming in
REDD+ includes delivering training of trainers (ToT) programs
at the national and sub-national levels, followed by community
awareness-raising at the village level in three target provinces:
Luang Prabang, Houaphan and Salavan. The Lao PDR project
team has also worked closely with other partner organization,
Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) to continue
strengthening the capacity of youths through grassroots consultation
workshops in the three target provinces.
MYANMAR: REDD+ CAPACITY
DEVELOPMENT EXTENDED TO NEW
PROJECT AREA
The Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation
Association (FREDA) is a new partner organization in Myanmar.
It is currently involved in implementing capacity development
programs on climate change and REDD+ in Bogalay Township,
Pyapon district in the Ayeyarwaddy Region. The organization
has also already conducted its first four-day sub-national REDD+
ToT program during the first week of February. A total of 24
participants, 10 of which were women, attended this ToT. The
participants were representatives of local communities, CSOs and
forest departments. The training focused on the topics of climate
change; the role of forests in climate change adaptation and
mitigation; REDD+ and the requirements for its implementation;
carbon trading; REDD+ in the context of SFM and community
forestry (CF); and REDD+ safeguards, including Free, Prior and
Informed Consent (FPIC) and gender in REDD+. Participants
reported that following the training, they better understood the
majority of the topics of the program, though some participants
wanted to learn more about carbon measurement. The training
program prepared participants to share their new knowledge
within their organizations. Some of the participants will also
be facilitating community-level trainings in selected villages of
the project area.
A training participant group presents on REDD+ issues and concerns
Group photo of the sub-national level ToT training
3
NEPAL: ENGAGING MEDIA IN REDD+
AWARENESS RAISING
Reaching grassroots stakeholders through journalists was one
of the key highlights of the project activities in Nepal over the
last period. The Nepal project team created a media fellowship
program, which awarded fellowships to selected journalists
and encouraged them to bring the key concerns and issues of
grassroots stakeholders into the public domain through their
writing in local publications. ForestAction, one of the project
implementing partners in Nepal, first briefed the local media on
REDD+ and climate change. Then, the organization supported
and encouraged the journalists to produce investigative stories on
REDD+ and climate change as a part of development journalism.
Five media fellows, including one woman and a member of the
Madheshi social group, were selected from five districts: Ilam,
Dang, Kailali, Rupendehi and Sarlahi, which represent five different
development regions of Nepal. The fellows from Kailali, Dang and
Rupendehi were assigned to develop at least two investigative
stories on REDD+ and SFM while the fellows from Ilam and
Sarlahi wrote stories on REDD+, FPIC and gender equity. Each
fellow received both thematic and technical support from Forest
Action throughout the three-month fellowship period. Through
this initiative, 17 articles were published: nine in national daily
publications, including two in English language publications,
and eight in district-level daily newspapers. Visit www.recoftc.
org/project/grassroots-capacity-building-redd/news-and-features/
media-fellowship-articles to read the articles.
VIET NAM: REACHING OUT TO
GRASSROOTS STAKEHOLDERS
THROUGH RADIO AND VIDEO
The Viet Nam project team has finalized the production of a
video and a series of radio programs to raise the awareness of
grassroots stakeholder on the topics of climate change, REDD+
and SFM.
The video, titled “People at the heart of climate change and
forests,” illustrates the links between community forestry and
REDD+. The video highlights two success stories of community
forests, specifically focusing on their strong commitment to
developing their forests and enhancing their livelihoods through
a range of forest benefits including water for local irrigation,
fodder for the livestock, firewood for cooking, as well as other
timber and non-timber products. Visit http://www.recoftc.org/
node/38149 to watch the video.
The series of radio programs is currently being broadcast, consisting
of 10 episodes. The content of the radio series covers a range
of topics, including REDD+, the causes and impacts of climate
change, SFM and REDD+ safeguards, including FPIC and gender
equity. The series kicked off its broadcast through load speaker
channels in seven districts of four project provinces during the
third week of April. The series runs through mid- June.
In addition to writing articles for daily news papers, the fellows were
also assigned to produce interactive radio programs on REDD+ and
climate change for local radio stations in their respective districts.
Altogether, 25 such episodes were produced, which highlighted
grassroots concerns and issues related to climate change and
REDD+. This engagement with local media was received well
by the key stakeholders, including local government officials.
REGIONAL REFLECTION WORKSHOP 2015
Similar to previous years, the Grassroots Project organized its
annual reflection workshop in Yangon, Myanmar during 6-9
January 2015 to review the progress of the project and to provide
opportunities for its country teams and partner organizations
to share their challenges and key lessons learned. The workshop
also provided an opportunity for country teams to learn from
each other and develop their annual plans of action for the
coming year. A one-day field visit to one of the project sites in
Yateshae Tonwship in the Bago Region was also organized to
promote learning between the country teams. Friends of Wildlife
(FoW), one of the Grassroots Project’s partner organizations in
Myanmar, facilitated the field visit, which demonstrated the
process of organizing grassroots consultations.
(i) unclear tenure and land ownership in REDD+ pilot areas; (ii)
a lack of livelihood opportunities for community members; (iii)
greater participation needed in stakeholder engagement; and
(iv) enhancement of technical capacity on SFM.
During the group discussions held over the course of the four
days, the country project teams reflected on the stakeholder
consultations they have been organizing in their respective
countries and shared lessons learned. The workshop participants
identified several key grassroots stakeholders’ concerns and issues:
Consultation with local villagers during ield visit
4
NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR TO MYANMAR
VISITS THE NAGALAND REGION
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visited one of the
Grassroots Project’s sites in Layshi Township in the Nagaland
region. The objectives of the visit was to update the Ambassador
on the progress of the project in Myanmar and to show the
awareness-raising activities on climate change and REDD+ taking
place on the ground. The visit was jointly organized by RECOFTC’s
Myanmar Country Program and the country team of the Wildlife
Conservation Society, one of the key partners of the Grassroots
Project in Myanmar.
The Ambassador, along with RECOFTC staff participated in a
consultation meeting with the villagers of the Grassroots Project
site. During the meeting, the participants shared their knowledge
about climate change and REDD+ and also raised concerns about
shifting cultivation, one of their key livelihood options, but which
is one of the key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation
in the area. The majority of the participants did indeed realize the
negative impacts of this practice on the structure and composition
of the surrounding forest areas and showed willingness to take
part in finding an appropriate solution in order to minimize the
impacts of deforestation and forest degradation.
The Norwegian Ambassador to Myanmar visits a Grassroots Project site
•
FPIC in REDD+: Myanmar
This question and answer booklet
on FPIC in the context of REDD+ was
developed to support local trainers
and facilitators who are engaged
in delivering REDD+ training and
capacity development, and who
have a basic understanding of these
subjects. The booklet is available at
http://www.recoftc.org/node/38147.
•
Free, prior, and informed
consent in REDD+: Principles and
approaches for policy and project
development in Myanmar language
The FPIC guidebook is now available
in Myanmar language. It will be
used for delivering grassroots-level
trainings on FPIC in Myanmar.
The guidebook is available for
download at http://www.recoftc.
org/node/38146.
•
A Fair Climate: Gender Equity in Forestry and REDD+ Video,
Sub-title in Nepali
This video explains the concept of gender equity in the context of
forest communities and it is provided for grassroots stakeholders
and community forestry practitioners to improve gender
equity on the ground. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/
watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8F7ihODyFcM
5
REDD+ READINESS MOVES FORWARD IN LAO PDR
REDD+ development in Lao PDR is moving rapidly. The country has been receiving support
from many development agencies to start REDD+ pilot activities, including the recently received
US$3.6 million from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank to be used
between 2014 and 2017 for supporting REDD+ readiness. The Department of Forestry (DoF)
has been selected as the focal agency for utilizing the FCPF money, specifically to kick-start
consultations with a range of REDD+ readiness stakeholders. The consultations began in midFebruary and the program is currently focused in two provinces: Huoaphan and Champasak.
The key planned activities include: i) developing national REDD+ strategies; ii) developing
reference emission levels; iii) designing measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems;
and iv) setting up REDD+ national management arrangements with the proper safeguards
included. This REDD+ initiative could prove a big step forward for Lao PDR in strengthening
and speeding up REDD+ development in the country.
Phonsay Khammavong
National Project
Coordinator in Lao PDR
This newsletter is published by:
Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+ in Asia
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
P.O. Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office
Bangkok 10903, Thailand
REDDgrassroots@recoftc.org
http://www.recoftc.org/project/grassroots-capacity-building-redd
Copyright © 2015 RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests gives permission to make digital or hard copies of portions or all of this work
for educational or non-commercial purposes without fee or prior written consent provided the copies are not made or distributed for profit or
commercial advantage and that the source is fully acknowledged. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on
servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission. Send written requests for republication to RECOFTC – The Center for People
and Forests, P.O. Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office, Bangkok 10903, Thailand. Please email your queries to REDDgrassroots@recoftc.org
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests and Norwegian
Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). We disclaim any errors or omissions in the translation of this document from the original version
in English into other languages.
Issue 6: May 2015