Respecting forest dwellers' rights can lead to reduced deforestation
London,
October
19
:
A
new
report
has
determined
that
setting
up
legal
rights
for
forest-dwelling
peoples
costs
little,
and
can
make
a
big
difference
to
efforts
aimed
at
reducing
deforestation.
Supporting
the
rights
of
the
world's
forest-dwelling
peoples
has
long
been
seen
as
an
essential
part
of
reducing
deforestation.
Yet
policymakers
have
been
unwilling
to
take
on
the
economic
and
political
costs
of
enforcing
these
rights.
According
to
a
report
in
Nature
News,
fresh
research
has
now
shown
that
the
monetary
costs,
at
least,
are
meagre
compared
with
the
overall
price
tag
of
the
United
Nations'
proposed
Reduced
Emissions
from
Deforestation
and
Forest
Degradation
(REDD)
programme.
The
study
was
launched
today
at
the
Rights,
Forests
and
Climate
Change
conference
in
Oslo,
Norway.
It
estimates
that
just
3.35
dollars
per
hectare
could
implement
legal
and
regulatory
frameworks
ensuring
land
ownership
and
habitation
rights
for
forest
communities.
The
estimate
includes
the
direct
costs
associated
with
demarcating
territory,
registering
land,
raising
awareness
and
resolving
local
disputes.
By
comparison,
the
estimated
costs
of
setting
up
and
implementing
the
REDD
programme
could
be
up
to
3,500
dollars
per
hectare
each
year
for
the
next
22
years.
"The
idea
of
the
study
is
to
put
things
in
perspective," said
Jeffrey
Hatcher,
the
report's
author
and
an
analyst
at
the
Rights
and
Resources
Initiative,
a
coalition
of
conservation
groups.
"There
is
strong
evidence
that
local
people
are
good
at
forestry
management.
So
even
if
REDD
does
not
come
about,
if
you
at
least
recognize
people's
rights
you
will
get
a
good
outcome
and
reduced
emissions,"
he
added.
The
UN-REDD
programme
was
launched
in
September
this
year
with
35
million
dollars
from
the
Norwegian
government,
and
is
still
taking
shape.
Under
the
programme,
governments
would
be
paid
by
the
international
community
to
preserve
forests
in
global
efforts
to
combat
climate
change.
But
campaigners
have
warned
that
unless
the
proposals
take
greater
account
of
the
rights
of
forest-dwelling
communities
to
live,
manage
and
take
resources
from
the
land,
the
plans
will
fail,
and
could
provoke
corruption
and
land
grabs.
According
to
Erik
Solheim,
Norway's
environment
and
international
development
minister,
"Indigenous
peoples
are
rightly
concerned
about
how
these
new
investments
could
affect
their
access
to
the
forests
that
they
depend
on
for
their
livelihoods."
"These
rights
need
to
be
respected,
not
just
for
moral
reasons,
although
that
is
vital.
It
is
also
a
matter
of
pragmatism
and
effectiveness,"
he
added.
ANI