The International Institute for Environment and Development released a report yesterday that explores the issue of land tenure in tropical forests as a component of the international debate on REDD (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries). REDD has been gaining increasing attention because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change has found that deforestation accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and a reduction in climate change won’t be achievable without reducing forest loss and degradation.
The land tenure issue is an important talking point, because forest land is often owned by the government or large corporations and locals often have little incentive to help steward the forest because they have no economic stake in the outcome. The carbon value of the land may instantly make the land more value, and without addressing tenure issues upfront, locals could be disenfranchised or might even be displaced.
“It appears evident that many countries are ill-equipped in practice to ensure that REDD schemes benefit local people. Improvements in tenure alone will not achieve this. Tackling some of the powerful players behind deforesting activities, like destructive logging, pressures for infrastructure development and conversion of forests to agribusiness, will require concerted action on an unprecedented scale in many countries.”
This report has been prepared in advance of the Copenhagen conference that is scheduled for December. At that meeting, countries will determine if REDD schemes will move forward on an international scale.
