* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While negotiations on climate change are once more in full swing, many forest nations are busy preparing their REDD-plus strategies and implementing pilot projects.
REDD-plus is a mechanism that could contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions to the atmosphere through avoiding deforestation and forest degradation, conservation and sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of carbon stocks. The consultation of indigenous peoples and local communities is seen as key to ensure appropriate REDD solutions. Unfortunately, gender dynamics are often not sufficiently taken into account.
Women in tropical rainforest countries often carry most of the burden of farming and the collection of forest resources. Yet, they are often deprived of decision-making powers and in most cases only own a fraction of the land. Their role in forest resource management needs to be recognized to ensure their full engagement in REDD preparations that are currently under way.
The details of a global REDD-plus mechanism are still under negotiation at the UN Climate Convention. The next negotiations under the convention will be held in Bonn, Germany, in June 2010. The hope is that progress made on REDD last year in Copenhagen is matched by concrete steps towards the creation of a legally binding agreement later this year.
In addition to the UN process, an interim partnership of key REDD donor nations and rainforest nations is being proposed under the leadership of the governments of France and Norway. Last year an interim financial mechanism on REDD was initiated but the focus has now shifted to the idea of forming a partnership on REDD.
Following a first meeting in Paris, held in March 2010, the group will meet in Oslo on May 27, with an aim of trying to include more civil society members, including indigenous people.
Both these negotiation processes stress that countries with tropical forests should be given time and resources to build capacity for REDD-plus implementation. The engagement and participation of a broad range of forest interest groups is receiving a lot of attention as a means to increase the legitimacy of REDD-plus and build support for the development of REDD-plus strategies.
INVOLVING WOMEN FOR EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
"But multi-stakeholder consultations are not an aim in itself," says Lorena Aguilar Revelo, senior gender adviser of IUCN. "Participation helps local people to gain ownership over the process of REDD planning. Full and equitable engagement of the most vulnerable groups, including women, contributes to the development of more effective and efficient solutions."
IUCN works in five tropical forest nations on the strengthening of pro-poor options for REDD-plus. This pro-poor focus contributes to the development of systems for equitable benefit sharing, focuses on economic activities that forest-dependent people might have to stop, and takes into account the impacts that REDD might have on the livelihoods of the most vulnerable groups.
In Cameroon IUCN assists the government in the development of REDD strategies, such as the development of a Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP) for the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a fund set up by the World Bank to assist tropical forest nations in REDD preparedness.
"We work with our Ministry of Environment on building tools for the meaningful participation of local communities," says Joseph Akem Ango from the office of IUCN in Cameroon. "We try to establish how indigenous peoples, women and other vulnerable groups can best contribute to Cameroon's national REDD-plus work."
It is a challenge for women in Cameroon to be credited for the role they play in the management of forest resources. They are vulnerable because in most cases they don't own the land from which they collect non-timber forest products.
Inclusion in Cameroon's REDD strategy can ensure that their customary rights are recognized. Women can also play important roles in monitoring and reporting, fire management and the deterrence of illegal logging.
Low-impact forest exploitation by women in Cameroon contributes to the sustainable management of forest resources.
"Through shifting cultivation practices, women in Cameroon contribute to the restoration of forests and by using specific products from particular trees they contribute to the protection of these trees" says Akem Ango. "However, forests are also burned for cultivation. Both the positive as well as negative activities show how important the involvement of women is in REDD-plus planning."
Akem Ango concludes that the engagement of women in REDD-plus is strategically important. Women in Cameroon are well organized in large networks.
"For example, we work with the Central African Women's Network for Sustainable Development (REFADD). Many women across the country are involved in this network. It informs and strengthens women's knowledge but also advocates for effective and equitable REDD plus policies."
IUCN is organizing the side event "Challenges and opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement as part of REDD-plus readiness processes" at the meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany on June 10th 2010. Speakers include men and women from government, the private sector and indigenous peoples' organizations in Indonesia, Ghana and Guatemala, as well as representatives from the UN-REDD program and the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Both organizations support forest nations in the planning of national REDD-plus strategies and give importance to the equitable participation of forest interest groups.
