This paper reviews the various rights of local communities and indigenous peoples over forest resources in Central Africa. Indeed, in 2010, the Council of Ministers of the Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) adopted the Subregional Guidelines on the Participation of Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples and NGOs in Sustainable Forest Management in Central Africa. A survey of this subregional legal instrument highlights a genuine commitment by states to consolidate the benefits and the emerging rights that can improve the living conditions of vulnerable communities and strengthen the subregional regime of sustainable forest management. However, the effectiveness of the subregional guidelines hinges on the administrative acts and practical measures of member states to incorporate this instrument into their domestic legal systems and to enforce it.

This paper is intended to act as a tool to stimulate discussion about good and best practice in linking conservation and poverty alleviation. Its publication signifies the start of a consultation process at the end of which we hope to produce a revised version for publication in the IUCN Primate Specialist Group series

This paper aims at assessing the vulnerability of local communities in the Congo basin forests of Cameroon; to help them identify their specific needs for adaptation, and to facilitate knowledge sharing with the aim of enhancing adaptive capacity Using participatory-action research approach, research was carried out in two project sites in Nkol-evodo and in Yokadouma in the Center and South-East Regions of Cameroon, respectively. The authors shared participatory-research (PAR) steps and processes to assist other researchers and local stakeholders to jointly assess, monitor and adapt to climatic and other changes. This study shows that the adverse effects of climate conditions to which study communities are exposed are already being felt and exerting considerable stress on most of the important activities to their livelihoods such as agriculture and exploitation of national resources. PAR tools and processes led to participatory diagnosis, conceptualizing of change, participatory identification, prioritization and implementation of specific strategies for climate change adaptation in the study sites. However, further studies are needed to investigate the effectiveness of these strategies. The PAR experiences show that stakeholders' involvement throughout the project needs to be considered by researchers who wish to enhance the adaptive capacity of the communities they work with. This paper contributes to the description of the process for enhancing adaptive capacity of forest living communities. Findings in this research may provide a crucial foundation for community-based adaptation measures and complement broader-scale scientific research with local precision.

Pervasive tenure insecurity in developing countries is a key challenge for REDD+. Brazil, a leader in REDD+, has advanced efforts to link forest tenure reform and environmental compliance. We describe how these policies have shaped sub-national interventions with detailed data on land tenure and livelihoods in four REDD+ pilot sites in the Brazilian Amazon. Despite different local contexts, REDD+ proponents have converged on a similar strategy of collaborating with government agencies to clarify tenure and pave the way for a mix of regulatory enforcement and incentive-based REDD+ mechanisms. This polycentric governance model holds promise for effective and equitable REDD+ implementation.

This study investigates four decades of socio-economic and environmental change in a shifting cultivation landscape in the northern uplands of Laos. Historical changes in land cover and land use were analyzed using a chronological series of remote sensing data. Impacts of landscape change on local livelihoods were investigated in seven villages through interviews with various stakeholders. The study reveals that the complex mosaics of agriculture and forest patches observed in the study area have long constituted key assets for the resilience of local livelihood systems in the face of environmental and socio-economic risks. However, over the past 20 years, a process of segregating agricultural and forest spaces has increased the vulnerability of local land users. This process is a direct outcome of policies aimed at increasing national forest cover, eradicating shifting cultivation and fostering the emergence of more intensive and commercial agricultural practices. We argue that agriculture-forest segregation should be buffered in such a way that a diversity of livelihood opportunities and economic development pathways can be maintained.

Interventions designed to reduce emissions of atmospheric heat-trapping gases from tropical forest degradation are more likely to succeed if based on previous experiences and if they are clearly linked to other on-going conservation and development initiatives. Links between forest management certification, climate change mitigation, and forest product legality assurance already being made on the ground by forest auditors should be recognized and enhanced. Similar synergies are also important at the international policy level, but we focus at the forest level and on the decisions of individual workers and the effectiveness of forest auditors. We stress how designs of linked conservation interventions should be based on theories of change that recognize the complexity of issues at stake across the hierarchy of actors and re-contextualize the processes so as to direct them towards emission-reductions and other desired outcomes. We posit the need to invest in building the capacity of both those responsible for and affected by forest loss and degradation for more efficient and accountable implementation of REDD+ and related conservation interventions.

This paper assesses proponent activities to address tenure insecurity in light of actions required for effective and equitable implementation of REDD+. Field research was carried out at 19 REDD+ project sites and 71 villages in Brazil, Cameroon, Tanzania, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Results show proponents addressed tenure insecurity by demarcating village and forest boundaries and identifying legal right holders, but were limited in their ability to resolve local tenure challenges that were national in origin and scope. Still needed are national tenure actions, integration of national and local tenure efforts, clarification of international and national REDD+ policies, and conflict resolution mechanisms.

Como idea, REDD+ ha tenido un éxito notable: Constituye un enfoque nuevo que genera esperanzas de financiación en base a resultados para abordar la acuciante necesidad de mitigación del cambio climático. Ha sido una iniciativa lo suficientemente amplia como para servir de dosel bajo el cual toda una serie de distintos actores pueden cultivar sus propios árboles.

REDD+ enfrenta retos enormes: Fuertes intereses políticos y económicos hacen que persista la deforestación y la degradación. La puesta en práctica debe coordinarse entre distintos niveles y agencias de gobierno; los beneficios tienen que repartirse y se ha de buscar el equilibrio entre la efectividad y la equidad; es preciso abordar adecuadamente la inseguridad y las salvaguardas de tenencia; y hay que disponer de instituciones transparentes, un seguimiento confiable de los niveles de carbono, así como niveles de referencia realistas que respalden unos sistemas basados en resultados.

REDD+ propugna un cambio transformador, y además puede impulsarlo:La introducción de incentivos económicos nuevos, nueva información y nuevos discursos, nuevos actores y nuevas coaliciones políticas tendrá el potencial de guiar las políticas nacionales hacia derroteros distintos de los que hasta ahora eran habituales.

Los proyectos de REDD+ son híbridos en zonas de alta deforestación: Los diseñadores de proyectos proponen estrategias que combinan la efectividad de las normativas y el apoyo a medios de vida alternativos (proyectos integrados de conservación y desarrollo, PICD) con incentivos en base a resultados (pagos por servicios ambientales, PSA). Los proyectos tienden a ubicarse en zonas de alta deforestación y gran contenido de carbono forestal, por lo que redundan en una elevada adicionalidad si tienen éxito.

Existen políticas “útiles en todo caso”: Pese a la incertidumbre en torno al futuro de REDD+, las partes interesadas deberán tratar de lograr apoyo político y crear coaliciones para el cambio, invertir en sistemas de información adecuados, y aplicar políticas capaces de reducir la deforestación y la degradación de los bosques que tengan efectos garantizados incluso sin tener en cuenta los objetivos climáticos.