ASB and partners convene REDD workshops in Africa and Asia

Workshops for developing countries working to reduce emissions from deforestation and land use change were held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1-3 March 2010, and Hue City, Viet Nam, from 8-10 March 2010. The workshops were hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and Alternatives to Slash and Burn Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins (ASB), and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The workshops follow previous meetings in 2009 on “REDD at the Copenhagen Climate Talks and Beyond- Bridging the Gap between Negotiations and Actions.”

Keynote speakers at the Vietnam workshop:: Left to right: Mr. Le Duc Ngoan, Hue University of Agriculture; Mr. John Drexhage, IISD; Mr. Pham Van Tan, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam; Dr. Peter A Minang, ASB

The workshop in Kenya included 70 participants from 15 countries and the workshop in Viet Nam included 55 individuals from seven countries. The workshops analyzed the outcomes of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen with regard to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) and reducing emissions from other land uses. Participants shared perspectives from across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, as well as experiences from readiness and demonstration projects.

Africa Workshop: ASB Global Coordinator Peter A Minang (back) with keynote speakers at the Nairobi workshop: Morten Nordskag (Royal Norwegian Embassy), Dr. Alice Kaudia (Kenya’s Environment Secretary) and Prof. August Temu (ICRAF Partnerships Directorate)

In charting a course for the coming year, negotiators and stakeholders considered some of the issues that will be at play in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Cancun, Mexico in December 2010. One particular message that emerged in both workshops is the importance of demonstration projects in generating lessons that can feed into the negotiations. This kind of  ‘learning by doing' has not yet been sufficiently developed in Asia and Africa. The meeting organizers produced a background paper, titled REDD After Copenhagen: The Way Forward, which  analyzes the COP15 outcomes on REDD-plus and agriculture, forests and land use (AFOLU) and assesses key areas for moving ahead with REDD implementation. [Background Paper] [Workshop Website]