Volume 9 - April 2010
The aim of this e-Newsletter is to inform CBD National Focal Points and CBD partners about biodiversity aspects in relation to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD-plus). To subscribe, please visit http://www.cbd.int/forest/redd/newsletters/.

NEWS

New collaboration between CBD and ITTO
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretariats of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been signed in Tokyo on 2 March 2010 (please see: http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2010/pr-2010-03-02-itto-en.pdf). As a first joint activity under the agreement, an International Conference on Biodiversity Conservation in Transboundary Tropical Forests will be organized in Quito, Ecuador, from 21-24 July 2010. The Conference will also explore the potential of REDD-plus for transboundary conservation. Interested organizations and individuals are invited to submit abstracts. Please see: http://www.cbd.int/forest/doc/call-for-papers-ecuador-2010-07-2nd-announcement-en.pdf .

Survey on national implementation risks for REDD-plus
The Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, in Jena, Germany, invites readers of the CBD REDD-plus & Biodiversity e-Newsletter to participate in the survey on national implementation risks for REDD-plus. The online survey will guarantee anonymity and will take approximately 20 minutes. Deadline: 31 May 2010. Please register for the survey at: http://redd-survey.limequery.com/index.php?sid=21735&lang=en

Atlantic Forest Restoration Project Becomes First in Brazil to be Validated under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS)
The Monte Pascoal-Pau Brazil Ecological Corridor – a reforestation project envisioned to span 2400 acres within the fragmented but still biologically diverse Atlantic Forest – has had its first 28 acres validated under the CCBS. Independent auditor, The Rainforest Alliance, approved gold-level validation for the project, which is hiring local people for restoration work and expanding habitat for threatened species. More: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/features/art30859.html.

Madre de Dios Amazon REDD Project
The Madre de Dios Amazon REDD Project was approved according to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (http://www.climate-standards.org/projects/index.html).Due to its high social and environmental sustainability, the project obtained Gold Level, being one of first REDD projects to achieve such status. The Madre de Dios Amazon REDD Project has been developed by Greenoxx NGO, who also financed an important part of the project and will exclusively commercialize it. More: http://www.greenoxx.com/en/index.asp

PUBLICATIONS

The Little Climate Finance Book
The Global Canopy Programme (GCP) and partners have released the Little Climate Finance Book - a guide to the different options to finance forests and climate change. The GCP will also be releasing a guide to biodiversity finance later this year in preparation for CBD COP 10 in Nagoya. More: http://www.theredddesk.org/resources/books/the_little_climate_finance_book. 

Protecting Community Rights over Traditional Knowledge: Implications of customary laws and practices
To sustain biodiversity-based lifestyles, communities need to maintain control over their knowledge and related bio-resources, preventing others from exploiting them, while taking advantage of market opportunities themselves. This report provides key findings and recommendations from an IIED and partner action-research project, focussing on developing tools to protect traditional knowledge, which are rooted in local customary laws rather than Intellectual Property standards. Download the report here: http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=14861IIED.

The Challenges of Environmental Mainstreaming: Experiences of integrating environment into development institutions and decisions
This report is an initial synthesis of IIED’s work with partners in 13 developing countries. It reviews the rapidly changing context and challenges to environmental mainstreaming, discussing what it takes to achieve effective mainstreaming, and provides a roadmap for selecting operational methods and tools. It calls for more attention both ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ of these plans, identifying advantages that can be gained through diverse media, business and civil society initiatives that assert environmental values in development. Download the report here: http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17504IIED&n=1&l=33&k=mainstreaming.

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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 [email protected]. 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: 25 June 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.
Photo credits (from top to bottom): escalepade, Brunna Peretti Loureiro, leoffreitas, and Mathieu Rossier