WWF Guide to Building REDD+ Strategies

FOREWORD
In the last five years, the UN envisioned
mechanism to reward nations for reducing
carbon emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation (REDD+) has transformed
tropical forest conservation from a niche
effort to a critical tool to fight climate change,
conserve natural resources and improve
the livelihoods of the rural poor. REDD+
is helping to transform these international
efforts in three important ways.
Firstly, REDD+ has raised global awareness
of the importance of tropical forests in
addressing climate change. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
estimated that carbon emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation of
tropical forests account for 17.4 per cent of
annual, global carbon emissions—more than
all the automobiles, trucks, trains, ships and
airplanes in the world. As emissions from
deforestation and degradation of tropical
forests decrease, while emissions from
other sources are growing, this number will
probably be somewhat lower in the future,
but this does not in any way change the
importance of tropical forests in the fight
against climate change. If we are to maintain
global warming to just 2°C above pre-
industrial levels, the global community’s
target to fight climate change, it is clear
that we must find a solution to tropical
forest loss.
Secondly, REDD+ has highlighted the key
role of tropical forests in underpinning the
livelihoods of local communities and indigenous
peoples, who depend on tropical forests
for their food, medicine, fibres and shelter.
Finally, REDD+ has heightened our understanding
of the vital role that tropical forests
play in providing ecosystem services—from
local to global scales—that maintain biodiversity,
support food production and regulate
our weather systems.
Yet, REDD+ is still only in its infancy. If REDD+
is to succeed, local and national government
leaders in developing tropical forest countries
need to develop effective national, and in
some cases subnational, REDD+ strategies
and the technical skills and expertise to
implement these.
This enormous effort that is now asked
of developing tropical forest countries has
mobilized the financial and technical support
of developed county governments, as well as
non-governmental organizations, the private
sector and academia. To date, the Government
of Norway has committed approximately
three billion US dollars in tropical forest
finance to support REDD+ related activities.
It is our aim that through this support,
developing tropical countries including the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil,
Indonesia, Peru and Guyana will be able to
reduce their emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation—and through this,
conserve their forests and improve the
livelihoods of their rural communities.
For these reasons, the Government of Norway
is pleased to support WWF’s development of
this publication, WWF Guide to Building
REDD+ Strategies: A toolkit for REDD+
practitioners around the globe. The guide
arrives at a critical time when many tropical
forest countries are in the process of, or
considering, developing their national or
subnational REDD+ strategies.
The Government of Norway looks forward to
continuing to support initiatives such as this
and to seeing REDD+ realize real benefits for
people and nature.
Bård Vegar Solhjell, Minister of the Environment,
Government of Norway
WWF FOREST AND CLIMATE INITIATIVE FOREWORD // ii