The specific objectives of I-REDD+ are to develop and test methods for:

  1. Quantifying GHG emissions and removals from the dominant forest types and agricultural systems of the study area. These include secondary successional vegetation – e.g. grass and bushes, young open-canopy tree communities, and mature closed-canopy tree communities. The project will analyse all five approved C-pools (above- and belowground C-stocks in vegetation, litter, dead wood and soil C-stocks) and fluxes of non-CO2 GHGs. This will allow us to understand the trade-off between effort and accuracy which is crucial to the cost-effective implementation of REDD+.
  2. Developing remote sensing and community based methods for monitoring of land use change and C-stocks in areas with forest and alternative land use systems. These methods will be verified with results from specific objective 1.
  3. Assessing potential disbursement mechanisms for REDD+ payments under different global payment scenarios and different governance and institutional structures in the case countries.
  4. Assessing the benefits and costs of REDD+ for livelihoods at local levels (REDD+ rent vs. opportunity and transaction costs) as well as socio-cultural ‘costs’ of changing lifestyles and development pathways.
  5. Developing and testing a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system within five critical areas of relevance to REDD+: GHG emissions, land use change, forest resources, governance, and livelihood impacts.
  6. Informing the development of future REDD+ implementation policies in the light of the above, including their feasibility given the opportunities and constraints of methods and the new knowledge obtained.
  7. Investigating country-specific differences and develop approaches that are appropriate in a range of different institutional, political, and socioeconomic settings. The potential for cross-border leakage will also be part of this analysis.
  8. Disseminating the methodological advancements and thematic insights to local, regional and national and international stakeholders through training, collaboration and publications of policy briefs, guidelines, and high-impact journal publications. The international policy arena negotiating the REDD+ mechanism is a specific target for I-REDD+ dissemination. These include UNFCCC conferences and UN-REDD events.

By Cope Media