REDD+ for the poor or the poor for REDD+? About the limitations of environmental policies in the Amazon and the potential of achieving environmental goals through pro-poor policies

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Once again, the international community focuses on the preservation of Amazonian forests, in particular through a bundle of initiatives grouped under the term of REDD+. Initially focusing on reducing carbon emissions, the REDD+ process became increasingly linked with developmental goals that represent the primary interest of all Amazon countries. In consequence, REDD+ can be seen as another attempt to achieve the twin goals of environmental protection and rural development, and consequently, relies on the strategies and tools of past efforts. Against this background, we explore past experiences with key strategies for environmental protection and poverty alleviation in the Amazon to critically reflect about the potential of REDD+ to contribute to sustainable local development in the region. The analysis demonstrates that initiatives that pursued environmental goals mostly led to more restrictions and bureaucratic barriers to local forest users, while the prevailing approaches to promote rural dwellers showed ambivalent environmental outcomes. Reasons for these unsatisfactory results include the sectoral alignment of the measures and the poor coordination and lack of coherence with decisive policy areas. Most critically, the environmental and social initiatives themselves rely on the classic development approach widely disregarding smallholders' capacities to contribute to local development. The manifold pilot activities emerging under the new REDD+ framework tend to repeat these shortcomings, thereby further accelerating the replacement of local socio-productive schemes with unsustainable land uses. In view of the growing consensus about the ecological incompatibility, social limitations and economic risks of classic development, an alternative vision of development is needed, which more consciously takes into account the immense social and environmental potential of the region. Considering that REDD+ is still at the start, there might be possibilities to re-adjust the framework and thereby turn it into a real contribution to the sustainable development of rural Amazon.

Our common future? Cross-scalar scenario analysis for social–ecological sustainability of the Guiana Shield, South America

“…Undoubtedly, the Amazon and Guiana Shield have high political and environmental relevance to the global community (Pokorny et al, 2013), particularly in terms of carbon storage, hydrology and biodiversity, and there are various trans-boundary initiatives to conserve the region as a whole, such as the Guiana Shield Facility (GSF) (see www.guianashield.org), a multidonor funding facility supporting regional institutional, administrative and policy frameworks for natural resource management. Yet, our scenario analysis indicates that future trajectories for the Guiana Shield as a region are very different to the visions of national stakeholders and local communities, with potentially important implications for the cohesion of the region in terms of social-ecological policy integration.…”

Potential Impact of the REDD+ Program on Poverty Reduction in Nghe An Province, Vietnam

“…Initially focusing on reducing carbon emissions, the REDD+ process became increasingly linked with developmental goals that represented the primary interest of all Amazon countries. As a consequence, REDD+ can be seen as another attempt to achieve the twin goals of environmental protection and rural development [20]. , has aimed to provide rice to local people to stop them from practicing shifting cultivation.…”

Grassroots Innovation Using Drones for Indigenous Mapping and Monitoring

“…Resulting from such achievements, a fundamental issue could be the increase of opportunities for indigenous participation in cross-scalar environmental and territorial politics through their engagement in drone-based monitoring. At present, the advancement of REDD+ and other PES mechanisms in Central and South America may create avenues for indigenous participation in environmental conservation, which may in theory be tied to their cultural and territorial rights, and their involvement in these mechanisms should ease the inclusion of social considerations like poverty alleviation and equity [63,64]. The importance of community-based monitoring in PES programs has often been highlighted [65,66] and should constitute an important aspect of indigenous participation, which may include the adoption of drone-based approaches [44], particularly if we consider the need to map and monitor degradation (the so-called "forgotten D", given the difficulties to map it from conventional remote sensing imagery owing to insufficient spatial and temporal resolutions amongst several factors) [67,68].…”