Tenure and REDD+. Developing enabling tenure conditions for REDD+

Summary

Key messages:

1. Tenure clarity is needed to identify REDD+ stakeholders and is often necessary to establish equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms. Tenure security is also key to achieving long-term success in sustainable forest management and improved livelihoods.

2. REDD+ requires immediate action to enable quick implementation. Because national tenure reforms are often a lengthy process, both short and long-term measures may be required to address tenure needs for REDD+.

3. Recognizing and protecting customary rights of local communities and indigenous peoples through participatory mechanisms is important for the effective and equitable implementation of REDD+.

4. Inserting tenure arrangements for REDD+ in national tenure policy frameworks will attenuate potential risks associated with REDD+ activities; e.g. increased land competition and/or the exclusion of those not formally registered as rightsholders.

5. Experiences with payment for environmental services (PES) and community forest management approaches can offer useful insights into flexible tenure arrangements for REDD+, based on existing tenure rights to land, forests and natural resources.