Far more than one billion people rely on forests to sustain their livelihoods. Forests provide their food and energy and are central to their cultures. And because of the clean air and fresh water that forests produce – as part of their ecosystem services – all our lives, whether in the countryside or city, are intrinsically linked to the existence of forests.
In our forest-related work via the UN-REDD Programme, UN Environment helps people
- to assess the social benefits and risks of proposed interventions in a landscape;
- to mainstream socio-economic benefits into integrated land-use planning; and
- by ensuring that social and governance considerations are built into the design of private sector funding mechanisms that finance sustainable productive landscapes.
Forests provide a range of crucial ecosystem services, without which life on Earth would be impossible. They also host the biodiversity that underpins these services. The services provided by forests include climate change mitigation, water regulation, cultural benefits, and production of food, fuel and fibre.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, also known as REDD+, is a global climate change mitigation mechanism that also delivers other environmental and social impacts. REDD+ actions protect or enhance forest ecosystem services by preventing loss or degradation of forests and its biodiversity, or by restoring forests. In addition to securing ecosystem services that benefit people, there are other potential social benefits of REDD+, such as improved livelihoods, clarification of land tenure, ensured inclusion of women and indigenous people in decision-making processes.
What does UN Environment do to ensure that REDD+ delivers multiple benefits to societies as well as the environment?
UN Environment helps countries assess the potential benefits and risks of proposed REDD+ actions through:
- Developing tools to assess REDD+ benefits and risks, such as BeRT (Benefits and Risks Tool).
- Applying tools to meet country specific needs, such as REDD+ risks & benefits analysis for Cross River State, 2016.
UN Environment helps countries mainstream multiple benefits into integrated land-use planning, for example:
- Providing policy and decision-making advice on non-carbon benefits of REDD+, such as biodiversity targets and climate change adaptation.
- Developing tools for spatial analysis of carbon and non-carbon benefits of forests, such as the Exploring Multiple Benefits mapping toolbox.
- Applying tools to meet country specific needs, such asREDD + Multiple Benefits in Costa Rica: Spatial Analysis to Support Decision Making.
UN Environment facilitates country approaches to meeting international safeguard requirements, for example:
- Facilitating South-South knowledge exchange, such as UN-REDD Programme Africa regional exchange on country approaches to safeguards, Kenya, June 2015.
- Developing tools to facilitate planning, implementation and monitoring of country approaches, such as CAST (Country Approaches to Safeguards Tool).
- Support country specific safeguards approaches, such as Sri Lanka's National Approach to REDD+ Safeguards.