REDD Research and Development Center

Biodiversity Criteria For REDD+ - How science can contribute to make safeguards work -

On October 15, 2014, the RRED Research and Development Center organized a side event at the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. Three guest speakers including Dr. Ian Thompson from Natural Resource Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Ms. Lucy Goodman from UNEP-WCMC, and Dr. Yoji Natori from Conservation International Japan, and Dr. Kimiko Okabe from our Center made a speech at the event. A total of around 50 people took part in the event to share the information on the biodiversity criteria and indicator for REDD+ and to discuss about them.

Furthermore, H.E. Heru Prasetyo, Head of the National REDD+ Agency, Republic of Indonesia, gave a speech about the biodiversity conservation efforts in Indonesia as a special guestat at the beginning of the event.

Purpose

For the implementation of REDD+, biodiversity is considered as one of the significant elements of safeguards. Biodiversity is also highly related with both ecosystem and social services from tropical forests. Practical, effective, and efficient criteria and indicators to secure biodiversity are requested by developing countries. Indicators are most effective at the project scale, but also useful if these can be scaled-up to national level, especially to help report on Aichi Targets. Nevertheless, it is important that biodiversity C&I do not become so cumbersome that projects are difficult to implement. In this event, scientists and practitioners discussed current views on REDD+ safeguards, opportunities and risks in developing criteria and indicators, focusing on biodiversity from the practical and scientific viewpoints. We concluded with a discussion panel and questions from the audience of how biodiversity should be considered in the context of REDD+.