On 12 May 2016, capacity development service providers and donors from 15 organizations participated in the ‘Meeting on Enhanced Cooperation – Asia-Pacific Forests and Climate Change Capacity Development’ in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting served as a platform to share experiences on the Grassroots Capacity Building REDD+ Project and to discuss strengthening coordination in climate change capacity development in the region, particularly with regards to forest based adaptation and mitigation.
The meeting was organized by RECOFTC and participants included representatives from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Green Climate Fund, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Royal Norwegian Embassy, Pact World, SilvaCarbon, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme), Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
The meeting kicked off with a discussion on the concerns and aspirations of grassroots communities on REDD+, which were gathered by RECOFTC’s field officers and partners as part of the Grassroots project. “Many consider REDD+ to be a mechanism that is top-down because conversations that are happening are still at a higher level,” said Chandra Silori, Senior Program Officer at RECOFTC, “we need to continue to enhance the capacities of local people so they can voice their concerns and aspirations with regards to REDD+, and play an active role in forest and climate change decision-making.”
The Grassroots project, which began in 2009, utilized a ‘cascading approach’ for information sharing at the national, regional and local level and built the capacity of local communities by engaging with people through a variety of methods including street plays, puppet shows, information fairs and participatory trainings.
While the project succeeded in reaching out to about 40,000 grassroots stakeholders, nearly 40% of them women, through various capacity development events, the project faced multiple challenges that intersect with broader issues facing REDD+ implementation and development. Particularly, the high expectations for ‘benefit sharing’ from REDD+ held by stakeholders, unclear land tenure, and the idea that REDD+ is still ‘’complex’ for grassroots stakeholders present challenges for those working to implement REDD+ on the ground. “We should have never raised expectations about the potential for big money in regards to REDD+,” said Thomas Enters, UN-REDD Regional Program Coordinator at UNEP, “we also need to stop saying REDD+ is still evolving and complex. It’s actually very straightforward and since 2014 countries basically know what they need to do to become eligible for results-based payments - it's written on pages 12 and 13 of the Cancun agreement.”
Participants also discussed that limited coordination and differing approaches have resulted in duplication, overlap and at times contradicting messaging in forests and climate change capacity development in the region.“We would all benefit from ensuring consistency and complementarity in how we communicate with stakeholders on subjects such as REDD+,” said Regan Suzuki Pairojmahakij, Senior Program Officer at RECOFTC. The Meeting on Enhanced Cooperation helped to consolidate experiences with climate change and forests capacity development, varying approaches and delivery methods that have worked, and opportunities to strengthen synergies among capacity development service providers.
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