Grassroot newsletter 5th 10 02 15

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Newsletter

Welcome to the REDD+ Grassroots Newsletter

REDD+

Grassroots

HIGHLIGHTs

•฀ Grassroots฀Project฀key฀lessons฀were฀highlighted฀at฀COP฀20฀–฀The฀United฀Nations฀Climate฀

Change฀Conference฀in฀Lima,฀Peru.

•฀ Indonesian฀villagers฀were฀able฀to฀voice฀their฀concerns฀to฀policymakers฀for฀the฀irst฀time.฀

•฀ The฀Nepal฀country฀team฀took฀to฀the฀radio฀waves฀to฀raise฀awareness฀on฀climate฀change฀

and฀REDD+฀issues.

•฀ The฀Grassroots฀Project฀team฀developed฀a฀handbook฀on฀equity฀in฀climate฀change฀for฀

grassroots฀facilitators.

•฀ Vu฀Huu฀Than฀of฀RECOFTC฀Viet฀Nam฀shares฀his฀experiences฀developing฀REDD+฀sites฀in฀

Viet฀Nam.฀

Training and Capacity Building of Forest Sector Grassroots Stakeholders for

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Asia

Issue 5: February 2015

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Project updates from country

teams and partners

INDoNEsIa

The฀ Indonesia฀ country฀ team฀ delivered฀ a฀ range฀ of฀ capacity฀ development฀ programs฀ for฀ various฀ target฀ stakeholder฀ groups,฀ including฀for฀female฀community฀volunteers.฀Another฀initiative฀taken฀ by฀the฀Indonesia฀team฀was฀to฀gather฀grassroots฀concerns฀through฀ a฀ series฀ of฀ consultation฀ workshops.฀ Beginning฀ with฀ three฀ multi-stakeholder฀events฀at฀the฀grassroots฀level,฀these฀events฀progressed฀ up฀to฀the฀district฀level฀as฀the฀Indonesia฀team฀engaged฀with฀district-level฀policymakers,฀PERHUTANI-state฀owned฀enterprises,฀local฀CSOs,฀ academics฀ and฀ community฀ representatives.฀ These฀ consultations฀ were฀the฀irst฀time฀the฀grassroots฀stakeholders฀had฀an฀opportunity฀to฀ directly฀interact฀and฀share฀concerns฀with฀district-level฀policymakers.฀ Moreover,฀ this฀ participatory฀ approach฀ led฀ to฀ the฀ formation฀ of฀ a฀ working฀group฀on฀climate฀change฀and฀REDD+฀at฀the฀district฀level.฀ The฀ local฀ villagers฀ and฀ other฀ stakeholders฀ also฀ planted฀ trees฀ in฀ the฀ rehabilitation฀ areas฀ of฀ Meru฀ Betiri฀ National฀ Park,฀ indicating฀ a฀ commitment฀of฀the฀stakeholders฀towards฀increasing฀the฀forest฀cover฀ to฀address฀climate฀change฀impacts.

Lao PDR

With฀support฀from฀the฀National฀University฀of฀Laos฀and฀the฀Department฀ of฀ Forests,฀ one฀ of฀ the฀ key฀ focuses฀ of฀ the฀ Grassroots฀ Project฀ in฀ Lao฀ PDR฀ is฀ to฀ strengthen฀ the฀ capacity฀ of฀ grassroots฀ stakeholders฀ on฀ REDD+฀ social฀ safeguards฀ in฀ the฀ context฀ of฀ sustainable฀ forest฀ management฀(SFM).฀During฀September฀and฀October฀of฀2014,฀two฀ sub-national฀level฀training฀programs฀were฀organized฀for฀the฀district฀ level฀ staff฀ of฀ the฀ Provincial฀ Agriculture฀ and฀ Forestry฀ and฀ Provincial฀ National฀and฀Resource฀Management฀ofices฀and฀the฀members฀of฀the฀ Lao฀Women฀Union.฀During฀the฀trainings,฀the฀participants฀relected฀ on฀ the฀ key฀ challenges฀ of฀ implementing฀ REDD+฀ and฀ discussed฀ capacity฀development฀issues฀for฀various฀stakeholders.฀฀Some฀of฀the฀ key฀ capacity฀ development฀ needs฀ discussed฀ were:฀ strengthening฀ technical฀knowledge฀of฀REDD+,฀promoting฀access฀to฀information฀and฀ disseminating฀regular฀updates฀on฀REDD+฀and฀enhancing฀knowledge฀ of฀tools฀for฀communicating฀about฀REDD+฀to฀local฀people.

Participants translate and simplify REDD+ language into Lao at a training in Luang Prabang.

Villagers discuss illegal logging practices during a consultation in Meru Betiri National Park, Jember district.

Police oficers and park rangers worked together to plant trees to reduce climate change impacts.

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MyaNMaR

Friends฀ of฀ Wildlife,฀ one฀ of฀ RECOFTC’s฀ partner฀ organizations,฀ organized฀a฀capacity฀development฀program฀in฀Yateshe฀Township฀for฀ grassroots฀REDD+฀stakeholders฀and฀focused฀on฀raising฀awareness฀at฀ the฀village฀level.฀Over฀800฀villagers฀attended฀the฀awareness-raising฀ events฀held฀in฀ifteen฀villages฀during฀September฀and฀October฀2014,฀ raising฀ key฀ issues฀ such฀ as฀ the฀ need฀ for฀ secure฀ tenure฀ and฀ access฀ rights฀to฀their฀land.฀

The฀ villagers฀ of฀ Yateshe฀ Township฀ responded฀ to฀ the฀ awareness-raising฀events:฀

“After฀understanding฀the฀relationship฀between฀deforestation฀ and฀climate฀change,฀we฀are฀interested฀in฀helping฀to฀protect฀ forests฀and฀restore฀degraded฀areas.”

“We฀have฀been฀dealing฀with฀the฀impacts฀of฀climate฀change฀ in฀ recent฀ years;฀ we฀ are฀ ready฀ to฀ help฀ in฀ whatever฀ possible฀ way฀there฀is฀to฀slow฀down฀climate฀change.”

“We฀ should฀ protect฀ forests฀ because฀ climate฀ change฀ can฀ decrease฀social฀and฀economic฀well-being.”

Villagers of Hlae-pwe-lay discuss REDD+ as a tool for climate change mitigation.

NEPaL

Over฀ the฀ past฀ few฀ months,฀ the฀ Nepal฀ country฀ team฀ implemented฀ several฀ REDD+฀ information฀ fairs฀ to฀ raise฀ awareness฀ at฀ the฀ district฀ level฀ about฀ issues฀ surrounding฀ REDD+฀ implementation฀ in฀ Nepal.฀ The฀ events฀ were฀ organized฀ in฀ collaboration฀ with฀ key฀ partner฀ organizations฀ and฀ related฀ agencies฀ in฀ the฀ districts฀ such฀ as฀ CARE฀ Nepal,฀ Multi฀ Stakeholder฀ Forestry฀ Programme฀ Nepal,฀ Rupantaran฀ Nepal฀and฀the฀district฀units฀of฀FECOFUN฀and฀HIMAWANTI.฀Over฀100฀ participants฀of฀both฀government฀and฀non-government฀sectors฀were฀ able฀to฀express฀their฀views฀on฀REDD+฀implementation฀issues฀during฀ the฀ inaugural฀ ceremony฀ of฀ the฀ event.฀ Discussions฀ on฀ sustainable฀ forest฀ management฀ and฀ REDD+฀ were฀ held฀ and฀ live฀ interviews฀ of฀ the฀related฀stakeholders฀were฀broadcast฀on฀the฀local฀radio฀after฀the฀ events.฀

Villagers study a poster in Myanmar language developed by the Myanmar country team explaining the beneits of REDD+ and the need for local involvement in REDD+ implementation.

Local radio DJs interviewing RECOFTC and project partner representatives live during the REDD+ information fair.

The Nepal country team presented various communication tools at the information fair, including books, brochures, pamphlets, posters and training manuals .

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Project news

CoP 20

Representatives฀ of฀ the฀ Grassroots฀ Project฀ team฀ participated฀ in฀ the฀ 20th฀Conference฀of฀Parties฀(COP20)฀in฀Lima,฀Peru,฀presenting฀in฀a฀ side฀event฀on฀the฀experiences฀and฀challenges฀of฀REDD+฀safeguards฀ capacity฀ development฀ at฀ the฀ grassroots฀ level฀ in฀ the฀ Asia-Paciic฀ region.฀The฀representatives฀also฀participated฀in฀a฀pavilion฀on฀gender฀ mainstreaming฀ in฀ REDD+฀ (https://www.facebook.com/recoftc)฀ organized฀ by฀ the฀ Global฀ Gender฀ and฀ Climate฀ Alliance฀ during฀ Global฀ Landscape฀ Forum฀ on฀ 6-7฀ December฀ 2014฀ (http://blog.cifor. org/26712/participatory-gender-research).฀ Learn฀ more฀ about฀ the฀ event฀ by฀ visiting฀http://www.recoftc.org/events/recoftc-cop20฀ and฀

http://www.facebook.com/recoftc฀ or฀ http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ cop20/enbots/3dec.html#event5.฀

Grassroots team perspectives

REDD+ site-level planning in Viet Nam:

Experience from the field

One฀of฀the฀original฀UN-REDD฀pilot฀countries,฀Viet฀Nam฀is฀currently฀ in฀Phase฀II฀of฀the฀UN-REDD฀Programme,฀which฀will฀inish฀at฀the฀end฀ of฀this฀year.฀One฀of฀the฀key฀outputs฀of฀the฀current฀phase฀is฀Provincial฀ REDD+฀Action฀Plans฀(PRAPs),฀developed฀with฀site-based฀activity฀plans฀ for฀each฀REDD+฀site.฀The฀UN-REDD฀Programme฀selected฀RECOFTC฀ to฀implement฀the฀formulation฀process฀of฀such฀PRAPs฀in฀four฀villages฀ of฀Lam฀Dong฀province฀because฀of฀its฀experiences฀implementing฀the฀ Grassroots฀Project฀in฀Viet฀Nam.฀RECOFTC฀was฀also฀invited฀to฀provide฀ develop฀ capacities฀ on฀ REDD+฀ site-level฀ planning฀ over฀ the฀ course฀ of฀ May฀ through฀ December฀ 2014.฀ To฀ do฀ so,฀ RECOFTC฀ promoted฀ a฀ participatory฀planning฀approach฀throughout฀the฀process฀to฀develop฀ common฀ understanding฀ and฀ a฀ sense฀ of฀ shared฀ responsibility฀ between฀the฀stakeholders฀and฀to฀invite฀inclusive฀solutions,฀leading฀to฀ a฀stronger฀community฀commitment.฀

—Vu฀Huu฀Than,฀Training฀Coordinator,฀RECOFTC฀Viet฀Nam

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During฀the฀past฀few฀months,฀Grassroots฀Project฀produced฀the฀following฀key฀publications:฀

Capacity development products: Featured publications

FPIC in REDD+: A handbook for grassroots facilitators - Vietnamese

This฀ publication฀ has฀ been฀ developed฀ to฀ provide฀ support฀ to฀ local฀ trainers฀ and฀ facilitators฀ who฀ are฀ engaged฀ in฀ delivering฀ REDD+,฀ climate฀ change฀ training฀ and฀ capacity฀ development,฀ and฀ therefore฀ already฀ have฀ a฀ basic฀ understanding฀of฀these฀subjects.฀http:// www.recoftc.org/node/24884

Gender in REDD+: Q&A handbook – Myanmar

The฀main฀objective฀of฀the฀handbook฀is฀ to฀support฀local฀trainers฀and฀facilitators,฀ who฀ are฀ already฀ familiar฀ with฀ climate฀ change฀ and฀ REDD+.฀ It฀ provides฀ them฀ with฀ useful฀ information฀ on฀ gender฀ considerations฀ for฀ climate฀ change฀ and฀ REDD+฀ related฀ training฀ and฀ capacity฀ development฀ programs.฀ To฀ access฀ the฀ handbook,฀ please฀ visit:฀ http://www. recoftc.org/node/24885฀

Equity in climate change and REDD+: A handbook for grassroots facilitators

The฀ objective฀ of฀ this฀ question฀ and฀ answer฀ handbook฀ is฀ to฀ support฀ grassroots฀facilitators฀who฀are฀engaged฀ in฀ delivering฀ training฀ programs฀ on฀ promoting฀ social฀ equity฀ in฀ climate฀ change฀ mitigation,฀ speciically฀ in฀ REDD+.฀To฀access฀the฀handbook,฀please฀ visit:฀ http://www.recoftc.org/project/ green-mekong/training-manuals-and- guides/equity-climate-change-and-redd-handbook-grassroots-facilitators

Social equity in community forests: Two case studies from Nepal

The฀ Nepal฀ country฀ team฀ produced฀ a฀ short฀ booklet฀ compiling฀ two฀ case฀ studies฀on฀the฀key฀aspects฀of฀equity฀and฀ its฀ application฀ in฀ selected฀ community฀ forests.฀ To฀ access฀ the฀ case฀ studies,฀ please฀ visit:฀ http://www.recoftc.org/