One size fits all? Or a more tailored approach to environmental services? Different communities have different needs when it comes to programmes like REDD+, new research has found. The research was carried out among 12 communities of 208 farming families in the Bolivian Amazon. Through focus groups and interviews, the researchers analysed the forest uses, agricultural methods and local workforce among these communities and then took measurements of the forest in order to ascertain productivity and carbon emissions. Output based initiatives like REDD+ pay land users to effectively leave the land alone. They hope to make it more financially rewarding to allow regeneration of the forest than to use the land for agriculture or other higher income usage. While this would work (in theory) for those who were on land already converted to agriculture, it fails to differentiate between agricultural communities and forest communities, who would also need input of money for the labour costs involved in sustainable forest management. The study suggests that a more case-by-case approach is needed when it comes to incentives like REDD+ in order for them to work effectively. More on the subject can be found here: inesad.edu.bo/developmentroast/2013/09/communities-need-more-than-money-to-stop-clearing-their-forests-new-research-shows/ Abstract of the study itself: sciencedirect/science/article/pii/S0921800913001614 Thumbnail photo: Sam Beebe, Ecotrust Forest, Santa Criz Dept, Bolivia
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:14:27 +0000
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