Climate change and forests

The International Institute for Environment and Development has published a new study about how tenure over land and trees will have a major role in efforts to tackle climate change through REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

Tenure in REDD: Start-point or Afterthought? by Lorenzo Cotula and James Mayers is available for download as a pdf.

As new mechanisms for 'reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation' (REDD) are being negotiated in international climate change talks, resource tenure must be given greater attention.

Tenure over land and trees – the systems of rights, rules, institutions and processes regulating their access and use – will affect the extent to which REDD and related strategies will benefit, or marginalise, forest communities.

This report aims to promote debate on the issue. Drawing on experience from seven rainforest countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea), the report develops a typology of tenure regimes across countries, explores tenure issues in each country, and identifies key challenges to be addressed if REDD is to have equitable and sustainable impact.