Social safeguards: protecting the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities in REDD+

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Cohosts
International Union of Forest Research Organizations, UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The protection of the rights and interest of indigenous and local communities in the implementation of REDD+ and climate change adaptation programmes is a contested issue in national and international environmental policy forums and national climate policy debates. The COP 16 Agreement on REDD+ recognises the need to 'promote and support' safeguards related to critical issues such as forest governance, and respect for the knowledge and rights of Indigenous Peoples and members of local communities and actions that are consistent with conservation of natural forests and biological diversity. Approaches to address social safeguards under development by the UN-REDD Programme include: social and environmental principles and criteria and associated risk identification and mitigation tools; participatory governance assessments for REDD+ to identify governance challenges and recommend responses; and guidelines on stakeholder engagement and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and its draft Guidance for the provision of information on REDD+ governance.  The adequacy of these and other approaches to ensure meaningful participation by local and indigenous communities, and desired environmental and social outcomes, in the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes and projects will be discussed by the panellists.

Key questions

• Capacity Building Needs of Governments
  What are the greatest capacity building needs for your government with regard to effectively implementing REDD+ safeguards in your country?
• Importance of Forest and Land Tenure
  Are there examples where reform in forest governance or attempts to create more secure tenure systems have resulted in successfully established property rights? How important is forest and land tenure security for fair distribution of REDD+ benefits?
• Traditional Management and Uses of Forests
  How can REDD+ programmes be designed to protect or enhance carbon and biodiversity benefits while maintaining traditional use of forest resources for the multiple goods and services that they provide to local communities (such as food security and provision of social and cultural benefits)?
• Commodification of Nature
  Does placing a monetary value on forests necessarily undermine the spiritual, cultural and social values that forests hold for indigenous peoples and local communities? How can REDD+ safeguards be designed and implemented to avoid such conflicts?
• Greatest Challenges
  What do you see as the greatest challenges to effectively designing and implementing REDD+ safeguards in your country? What are your recommendations for addressing this challenge?

Moderator

• Niels Elers Koch, President, International Union of Forest Research Organizations
• Charles McNeill, Senior Policy Advisor, UN Development Programme
  

Keynote addresses  

• John Parrotta, IUFRO Task Force Coordinator and US Forest Service
• Joanna Durbin, Director, Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance

Panellists  

• Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba), Philippines (TBC)
• Kaninke Sena, Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPAC), Kenya
• Juan Carlos Jintiach, Coordinator of the Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), Ecuador
• Vincent Kasulu, Director of Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, DRC (TBC)
• Representative of the Ministry of Environment, Ecuador (TBC)

Contact information
TBC