Institutional Mechanisms for REDD+ - Case Studies Working Paper

elected as assistants to members of the agrarian authority. Although these positions are not decision-making
positions, it appears that women are on track for more decision-making opportunities since the members of
the agrarian authority are often elected based on their service to the community. Although much progress
needs to be made, PES schemes can be used to create opportunities for women, as illustrated in this case of
Tlahuitoltepec.
Conflict resolution:
In terms of conflict resolution, there are no formal institutional arrangements to mediate conflict. A
government agency that could play a role in this process is the tribunales agrarios (agrarian tribunals), although
they would need significant training and capacity building to address conflicts related to REDD+. 55 At the
community level, conflicts are addressed effectively, to some extent, within the community. 56 More research is
needed to determine if indeed all members of the communities have a common perspective of the efficiency
and fairness of the process in each of the communities.
Community participation:
Community buy-in is central to entering into a PES scheme, performing carbon sequestration activities
according to agreements, and managing benefits effectively. There are opportunities at each of these stages
for conflict to arise or for institutions to break down. However, there are examples of success encountered
during this México case study assessment, particularly in the community of Tlahuitoltepec.
1.4.2 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
� Support efforts to involve communities appropriately in the development of the REDD+ strategy. It is critical to have
buy-in from the communities in the development and implementation of the REDD+ strategy and
projects. Accomplishing this objective is a major challenge of which many stakeholders involved in the
development of the REDD+ national strategy are aware. Using PES schemes as an example, it appears
that the better organized the community and the stronger the internal institutions are, the more
successful the projects are in practice. Involving communities is particularly challenging because they are
often located in areas that are remote and/or of difficult access, and in many cases they do not speak
Spanish.
� Building on the example in Oaxaca, support the use of PES schemes (or REDD+ projects) as a way to define and clarify
land tenure. Given that tenure security is an eligibility criterion for participation in PES schemes,
communities may be incentivized to engage in processes to clarify tenure, or facilitating intermediaries
may assist communities to reach these tenure security goals. The precedence created by governmentsanctioned
PES schemes that call for a level of tenure security can be important for building momentum
around accepting tenure clarification within government and building the capacity of NGOs and
communities to engage in this process, thus leading to tenure clarification and regularization in the early
stages of the PES/REDD+ projects although this might require significant up-front investments of time
and financial resources.
� Support efforts to use PES schemes (or REDD+ projects) to formalize governance rules within the communities. For
example, in setting up the project in Oaxaca, the project team made sure that the community governance
processes (such as rules for decisions in the assembly) were in place and appropriately recorded in the
National Agrarian Registry to be legally recognized (see Box 1.1).
55 Interview with Juan Carlos Carrillo (Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental).
56 Interviews with authorities and members of the communities in Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca; interviews with technicians (also members of the
communities) in Ambio‘s REDD+ pilot in Chiapas.
18 PRRGP INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR REDD: CASE STUDIES – WORKING PAPER