NEWS

Global Expert Workshop on Biodiversity Benefits of REDD-plus, 20-24 September 2010 (tentative), Nairobi, Kenya
This workshop is being convened by the Secretariat of the CBD with the generous financial support of the government of Germany and in collaboration with the UN REDD Programme. The purpose of the workshop, pursuant to decision IX/5 of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, is to support the efforts of Parties in addressing reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries in the framework of the UNFCCC, in a way that contributes to the implementation of the CBD programme of work on forest biodiversity. Deadline for nominations of technical experts is 10 August 2010. For more details, please refer to: http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2010/ntf-2010-128-redd-en.pdf.

Fourteenth Meeting of CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14), Nairobi, 10-22 May 2010

Recommendations adopted at SBSTTA-14: An advanced unedited version of the recommendations adopted at CBD SBSTTA-14 is available at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-14/in-session/sbstta-14-recommendations-en.pdf. References to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries can be found in recommendations XIV/5 on biodiversity and climate change and XIV/12 on forest biodiversity.

The Rio Conventions’ Ecosystems and Climate Change Pavilion
The Rio Conventions’ Ecosystems and Climate Change Pavilion, a collaborative outreach activity of the Rio Convention secretariats, is a coordinated platform for awareness-raising and information sharing about the latest findings from science and practice on the linkages between biodiversity, climate change and desertification. The Ecosystems and Climate Change Pavilion at CBD COP 10 (18-29 October 2010) in Nagoya, Japan will feature high level events, lecture series, web events and thematic displays. The UN REDD Programme will organize a workshop series during each evening in the first week of the Pavilion, covering pertinent topics on REDD and biodiversity. For more information on the Pavilion, see: http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2010/ntf-2010-101-eco-cc-en.pdf.

Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP-10), Nagoya, Japan, 18 to 29 October 2010

Reminder – deadline for COP-10 side event registration: Requests for side events should be made using the on-line system available on the Secretariat’s website at: http://www.cbd.int/register/home.shtml. The deadline for the receipt of requests is 15 July 2010.

UNEP-WCMC launches new website on carbon, biodiversity & ecosystem services: exploring co-benefits
UNEP-WCMC, with support from BfN, has launched a website highlighting the potential for actions on reducing emissions from land use change (including through REDD+) to secure additional important benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services (co-benefits). The site showcases UNEP-WCMC’s recent work with in-country partners on developing such analyses and includes an interactive mapping tool, developed in partnership with CBD LifeWeb, allowing users to explore spatial relationships between carbon and co-benefits. To access the website and interactive tool, please go to: http://www.carbon-biodiversity.net/.

PUBLICATIONS

'What is needed to make REDD+ work on the ground? Lessons learned from forest carbon initiatives'
This report by Conservation International provides a detailed analysis of the experiences of 12 pilot forest carbon initiatives and reveals many of the real-world challenges that project managers and policy makers will likely face as they implementing REDD+. The report also provides practical recommendations of how to enhance the chances of successfully implement REDD+ at the national level. The full report and executive summaries in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese are available at: http://www.conservation.org/publications/Pages/REDD_lessons_learned.aspx.

REDD+ in dryland forests: Issues and prospects for pro-poor REDD in the miombo woodlands of southern Africa
Implementing REDD+ programs involves providing sufficient incentives to land users and a supportive policy, legal and institutional environment. The lessons from CBNRM in the miombo ecoregion provide a basis on which REDD+ in dryland forests can build. Three country case studies from Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia are used to draw lessons from CBNRM that can inform pro-poor REDD as well as providing the likely opportunity costs of REDD+. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.iied.org/pubs.

'Does the Opportunity Cost Approach Indicate the Real Cost of REDD+ ? : Rights and Realities of Paying for REDD+'
The focus of this paper by Hans Gregersen, Hosny El Lakany, Alain Karsenty, and Andy White, is that the contextual issues influencing the adequacy and appropriateness of opportunity cost as a proxy for payments required to obtain successful REDD+ can be major ones in most tropical developing countries; and resolving them can be expensive and time consuming. Both the summary brief and the full report can be downloaded at: http://www.rightsandresources.org/publication_details.php?publicationID=1555.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Organization: GEF
Job Family: Environment
Job Title: Sr Environmental Specialist (Sustainable Forest Management/REDD-plus)
Location: Washington, DC
Closing Date: 16-JUL-10
More: http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64262364&pagePK=64273550&piPK=64273555&theSitePK=1058433.

Programme Coordinator: Civil Society Capacity Building for Preventive Anti-Corruption measures in Reducing Emission through Deforestation and Degradation mechanisms
Organization: Transparency International (TI)
Job Title: Programme Coordinator: Civil Society Capacity Building for Preventive Anti-Corruption measures in Reducing Emission through Deforestation and Degradation mechanisms (PAC REDD)
Location: TI-Secretariat, Berlin, Germany
Closing Date: 10-Aug-2010
More: http://www.transparency.org/contact_us/work.

How can you publish in this Newsletter?

Your contributions to this Newsletter on issues related to biodiversity aspects of REDD-plus are welcome. Please send your submission to redd@cbd.int. Articles should contain no more than 60 words, and must contain a hyperlink for more information. For more information please see: http://www.cbd.int/forest/redd/newsletters/

Deadline to submit articles for the next issue: 27 August 2010.

This Newsletter is published pursuant to CBD decision IX/5. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Secretariat of the CBD.