REDD+: What´s in it for community forest management?

As international REDD + policy is being developed under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), many countries are proposing community forest management (CFM) as a major element of their national REDD + strategies, for example in the readiness plans they are submitting to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) programme and the UN-REDD. This chapter first explores which elements of REDD + can probably be tackled successfully by CFM. I conclude that its major niche will be in promoting forest enhancement, rather than in reducing emissions from deforestation, and that although it is likely also to reduce emissions from forest degradation, carbon credits for this will be difficult to claim as it is almost impossible to construct a reliable baseline for past forest degradation. The incentive systems being used to promote CFM under REDD + national plans are then considered. Although at the international level, emission reductions achieved under REDD + will be rewarded on an output basis (per tonne CO2), it is questionable whether this same system is appropriate within national programmes. The case is made for input-based incentives, which will be easier to administer as they have much lower transaction costs. Moreover, an input-based incentive system will result in less conflict and higher participation. In other words, the argument is made that even if a market system is necessary at international level to encourage investment in REDD +, at the local level more traditional stimuli will be more efficient.