Institutional Mechanisms for REDD+ - Case Studies Working Paper

FIGURE 2.2: MAP OF DRC
Since neither the Preliminary nor the Final Strategies for REDD+ had been developed at the time this case
study was written, all elements presented in this document are drawn from the R-PP. Information in the R-
PP was complemented with data obtained from interviews with government officials that were conducted by
World Resources Institute (WRI) and a local consultant in February–April, 2011, as well as from draft
documents shared by the interviewees.
At that stage, options for REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanisms were discussed in general terms. However, a
REDD+ National Fund was already presented as a ―pillar of the Congolese vision for a REDD+ national
mechanism.‖ 59 The National REDD+ Coordination body (NC-REDD) 60 had already published a request for
proposals in February 2011 for a study proposing institutional options for the Fund. However, this study was
not available at the time of writing and the Fund‘s role, responsibilities, and operating rules were yet to be
defined.
NC-REDD+ members that were interviewed for this study suggested that all REDD+ payments would not
necessarily pass through the Fund. The option of taking a ―nested approach‖ was still being considered,
where international markets would be able to contract directly with local communities. The DRC Ministry of
Finance 61 emphasized institutional options that would secure the State‘s share of REDD+ revenues, claiming
that the State owns by law all national land and forests, and thereby the carbon sequestered in forests. 62
Another argument put forward is the legitimacy for the State to tax any form of national revenue.
59 Source: Designing and Implementing a REDD+ National Fund in DRC, presentation of the NC-REDD, December 2010.
60 The National Coordination on REDD+ (NC-REDD) is the body in charge of formulating technical and policy propositions to the REDD+
National Committee and the REDD+ Interministerial Committee, and of coordinating all REDD-preparation activities in the country. It is
housed by the MECNT within the Direction of Sustainable Development.
61 Felicien Mulenda, Finance Ministry official in charge of Natural Resources, interviewed in Kinshasa on April 12, 2011.
62 See Appendix 2.1 for more information on the legal status of land and forests in DRC.
PRRGP INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR REDD: CASE STUDIES – WORKING PAPER 23