Socio-economic conditions in REDD+ pilot areas: A synthesis of five baseline surveys

Deforestation and forest degradation are among the most important single sources of emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG), contributing about 17 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions annually (IPCC, 2007). Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation – REDD+ – is a United Nations collaborative initiative that seeks to reduce emissions from forest degradation in developing countries. REDD+ came into being as a response to a UNFCCC decision on REDD+ at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 13 in Indonesia. The REDD+ programme supports processes at the national level to implement REDD+ projects, emphasising the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The project Poverty and sustainable development impacts of REDD+ architecture: Options for equity, growth and the environment (POVSUS-REDD+) was initiated in 2009, and aims to increase the understanding of how institutions can be created to facilitate the implementation of REDD+ at international, national and local levels, and to what extent its implementation will bring about reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, poverty reduction and sustainable development. The POVSUS project is a collaborative effort led by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), with the following partners: Fundação Amazonas Sustentável (Brazil); Civic Response (Ghana); SNV (Viet Nam); Sokoine University of Agriculture, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation (Tanzania); and Makerere University, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation (Uganda). 1 The aim of the project is to generate knowledge on how REDD+ can be designed at international and national levels in order to promote co-benefits, through assessing different options for the distribution and allocation of REDD+ payments. The project works with selected REDD+ pilot projects in each of the five countries to improve understanding of the poverty impacts of REDD+ pilot activities, the relative merits of different types of payment mechanisms and the associated transaction costs. As part of the research, a baseline study was carried out in pilot sites in all five countries, to map out the existing livelihood conditions, production constraints and resource use practices before the pilot projects were introduced. While this was important so that the impacts of introducing REDD+ projects could be measured later, the baseline study also undertook to identify potential challenges for establishing and running REDD+ activities and to understand the expectations and demands of households and communities. Each study included a survey, focus group discussion, and interviews with local ‘resource persons’. This report synthesises the main findings from these studies. For more detailed information, the reader is referred to the specific country reports. This overarching report is structured as follows: section 2 describes the pilot areas studied, section 3 gives an overview of household characteristics and livelihoods, section 4 discusses tenure systems and forest management, section 5 looks at perceptions of climate change and demands concerning REDD+, while the final section offers concluding remarks and reflections on the implications for REDD+. Since this is a synthesis report, it only touches on the key features of each country and pilot. Given the geographical spread and the diversity of the five pilot areas, there was considerable variation in the findings of the baseline studies. Below is a brief description of each pilot area.NORA