Saving Forests with REDD+

Healthy forests absorb tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide, which we all need in order to survive. When trees fall, usually due to illegal logging or converting land for agricultural use, the forests become sources of harmful greenhouse gases instead of serving as important carbon “sinks.”

But there’s hope in the form of an emerging international initiative aimed at keeping trees standing: REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

REDD+ offers financial incentives to developing countries that create and implement strategies to manage and use their forests responsibly. More than 50 countries are developing these strategies, which include many activities that have been in the conservation “toolbox” for years: creating networks of protected areas, expanding the use of responsible forest management practices, preventing illegal logging, developing management practices that keep agricultural production away from forests, and more.

But there are four distinguishing characteristics to REDD+:

• Conservation is done at a very large scale
• Countries develop a “baseline” that estimates the current amount of emissions from a forest region, against which conservation progress can be measured
• Payments are offered for quantifiably reducing emissions
• Strategies are designed and implemented in a participatory and transparent way

Since REDD+ was introduced nearly 10 years ago at the global climate negotiations, approximately $10 billion has been allocated for this initiative. Most of the funding has come from governments in the developed world, including the United States. There is movement now to also support REDD+ with money from the private sector and market forces (e.g., company commitments to source goods responsibly).

We are at a critical point in time with REDD+. Over the next several years, WWF and others must demonstrate the effectiveness of and demand for REDD+ if we want to ensure long-term political and financial support for this conservation approach.