Curb indigenous fears of REDD+

Potvin, Catherine; Mateo‐Vega, Javier

doi:10.1038/500400e

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…A similar failure to support the community was observed when government authorities were presented with both the evidence of colono invasion of the communal land and The Council's proposal for mediation. The lack of cooperation and assistance from the State is consistent with reports of poor communication between the government and indigenous peoples [74].…”

Section: Lesson 4: the Self-interest Of The Statesupporting

confidence: 51%

Early REDD+ Implementation: The Journey of an Indigenous Community in Eastern Panama

Holmes

Potvin

Coomes

2017

Forests

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Abstract:Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) offers developing countries an opportunity to engage in global climate change mitigation through the sale of carbon credits for reforestation, avoided deforestation and forest conservation projects. Funding for REDD+ projects has increased in recent years and REDD+ projects have proliferated, but relatively few studies have, as yet, examined their implementation. Here, we present a synthesis of the challenges and lessons learned while implementing a REDD+ project in an Emberá community in Panama. Our case study, documented in four cycles of collaborative action research over 11 years, examines how local communities sought to reduce emissions from deforestation and benefit from carbon offset trading while improving local livelihoods. Through semi-structured interviews and participatory methods, we found that success with REDD+ hinges on broader issues than those widely discussed in the literature and in policy circles. Though economic incentives for participants and the equitable distribution of benefits remain important to project participants, our study finds that, in adapting REDD+ strategies to best suit community needs, the role of a support system for implementation ("bridging institutions") and REDD+'s potential as a conflict resolution mechanism for tenure issues deserve more attention as key factors that contribute to meaningful participation in REDD+.

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Section: Lesson 4: the Self-interest Of The Statesupporting

confidence: 51%

Early REDD+ Implementation: The Journey of an Indigenous Community in Eastern Panama

Holmes

Potvin

Coomes

2017

Forests

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“…Given the importance of indigenous people as forest custodians in Panama and many other Latin American countries (Vergara‐Asenjo & Potvin ), engaging them in forest monitoring under REDD+ appears to be a win‐win opportunity for improving mapping accuracy, while also unlocking the sometimes complex relationship between indigenous people and national REDD+ strategies. In moving away from the fear of REDD+ (Potvin & Mateo‐Vega ), indigenous peoples and local community participation in forest carbon assessment or in national forest inventories could establish a new starting point that is based on real collaboration and mutual benefits.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging Stakeholders: Assessing Accuracy of Participatory Mapping of Land Cover in Panama

Vergara-Asenjo

Sharma

Potvin

2015

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities, and high accuracy estimates are two current requirements for the purposes of monitoring forests at international level. We produced two land cover maps, both of which were based on digital image processing (decision trees) using Rapideye imagery, and a land cover participatory map, for indigenous territories of eastern Panama. Accuracy of the three maps was evaluated using field data. Classification that was based on participatory mapping gave best overall accuracy of 83.7% (κ = 0.783), followed by the decision tree that included textural variables (DT2: overall accuracy of 79.9%, κ = 0.757). We have demonstrated for the first time that local knowledge can improve land cover classification and facilitate the identification of forest degradation. The plea of the UNFCC for the full and effective participation of local and indigenous people could, therefore, improve the accuracy of monitoring.

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“…As in other parts of the world (Savaresi ), REDD+ remains a contentious issue with indigenous peoples in Panama where the REDD‐Readiness process created an environment of apprehension and fear (Potvin and Mateo‐Vega ). Studies (Cuellar et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in forest monitoring for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+): trial in Panama's Darién

et al. 2017

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Abstract. A primary technical requirement of the climate change mitigation mechanism, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), is to calculate emissions factors, that is, the amount of CO 2 emissions or removals per hectare from land use and land-use change. Emissions factors are calculated from baseline estimates of the aboveground biomass (AGB) stored in different vegetation types. Ground-based methods for estimating AGB, such as forest inventories, despite being relatively accurate and necessary for calibrating remotely sensed data such as satellite or airborne Light Detection and Ranging, tend to be expensive and time-consuming. Thus, calls have been made to improve the cost-efficiency of these methods within the context of REDD+. Also as part of REDD+, there have been calls for the legitimate inclusion of indigenous peoples and rural communities in various aspects of the mechanism. To address both of these issues, we devised a participatory, rapid, forest inventorying method and tested it across the heterogeneous forest landscape of Darien, Panama. This effort took place within a project that was administratively and logistically managed entirely by an indigenous organization working in collaboration with indigenous authorities in Darien, with funding from the World Bank. A group of 24 indigenous technicians were trained on forest inventorying methods. They established and measured thirty 1-ha plots under our direct supervision. We tested for various sources of error in tree diameter and height measurements. We also tested the scalability of our tree-level biomass estimates to the plot level by comparing our results with simulations conducted on the Barro Colorado Island 50-ha permanent plot data. Results indicate that our rapid, participatory, forest inventorying method effectively captures plot-level AGB, while guaranteeing the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples. The benefits of our method in terms of cost-efficiency and access to remote forest areas are discussed, as well as those accrued by indigenous peoples.

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Curb indigenous fears of REDD+

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Early REDD+ Implementation: The Journey of an Indigenous Community in Eastern Panama

Early REDD+ Implementation: The Journey of an Indigenous Community in Eastern Panama

Engaging Stakeholders: Assessing Accuracy of Participatory Mapping of Land Cover in Panama

Full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in forest monitoring for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+): trial in Panama's Darién

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