REDD+: the forest grab of all times?

Forests play an important role for the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. Yet, the poor often lack legal rights to the forest resources that they depend on. This renders them highly vulnerable to loss of access and displacement when valuable forest resources attract the interest of more powerful parties. In recent years forests’ ability to take up and store carbon has emerged as a new forest commodity as the international community attempts to reduce global CO2 emissions through REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Although REDD+ operates with social safeguards there is a risk that local communities will lose access and rights to forests, especially because of frequent overlap between legal and customary rights of different stakeholders to the same forest. Furthermore, inequalities within communities may be heightened as some people manage to take advantage of new opportunities while others lose out. The project investigates how REDD+ influences regulations and access to forest resources, the way compensation for foregone benefits is awarded, and to what degree local monitoring of livelihood impacts of REDD+ can be used as a tool to empower local communities and help secure their rights in the face of REDD+.