REDD PLUS and Cambodia: Engaging Community Views and Participation (Khmer)

Summary

Reports from provincial awareness-raising workshops to promote hte involvement of civil society organisations and local and indigenous communities. 

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is committed to mitigating the impact of climate change and to embracing innovative financing in forestry as part of its strategies towards the achievement of its national development goals. Indeed, in 2008, the RGC submitted a Readiness Plan Idea Note (or R-PIN) to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, and was accepted into this body the following year.

In October 2009, Cambodia was granted observer status on the UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Policy Board.

Following Cambodia’s entrance to the UN-REDD, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) committed to support the RGC with a REDD Readiness planning process, leading to the development of the Cambodia REDD PLUS Roadmap (the Cambodia Readiness Preparation Proposal).

With the Readiness Plan approved by the UN-REDD and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, in 2011 a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) identified a need to raise awareness and encourage involvement among Cambodian community members. They recognised that a community-rooted process of information dissemination and consultation would be vital, not just in specifically promoting REDD PLUS, but also in supporting climate change mitigation strategies as a whole, particularly as they relate to forest preservation and forest-based livelihoods protection.

As a result, a first civil society workshop was held in Oddar Meanchey province in October 2011. Taking the theme of Community Rights and Initiatives on Forests, Natural Resources and REDD PLUS, the workshop focused on the progress of Cambodia’s first forest carbon project from a local community perspective. It also explored the extent to which local communities and indigenous people were aware of issues surrounding forests, climate change and REDD PLUS in their own areas and in Cambodia as a whole, as well as the extent of their collective involvement and vision for the future. This initial workshop was followed, from February to August 2012, by similar initiatives across Cambodia, all with the aim of raising awareness among local and indigenous communities about the principles and reasoning behind REDD PLUS, and the associated Roadmap development and implementation process.