NEWS

CBD report on Biodiversity and Climate Change
The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at its meeting held in Strömstad, Sweden, on 10 September 2009, welcomed the finalization of the report of the Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change and authorized the Executive Secretary to issue it in the CBD Technical Series. The report will be posted online in October with a printed version launched at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC. The report contains key messages on REDD efforts, as well as information on biodiversity and adaptation to climate change. The main messages in the report will be translated into all United Nations languages. More: http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2009/pr-2009-09-11-cc-en.pdf

First Joint CBD/UNFF Capacity Building Workshop on Forest Biodiversity and Climate Change, Singapore, 2 to 5 September 2009
A capacity building workshop for Southern and South-Eastern Asia on forest biodiversity and climate change was held in Singapore, from 2 to 5 September 2009. The workshop was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat and the National Parks Board of Singapore, with the generous financial support of the government of Germany and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). The purpose of the workshop was to support the efforts of CBD Parties to achieve synergies between the implementation of the CBD programme of work on forest biodiversity, the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests of the UNFF, and forest-related climate change mitigation and adaptation activities, including REDD. More: http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=WSCB-FBDCC-01

REDD – Building on the foundations of field-based conservation
As all eyes focus on Copenhagen and as REDD project development gathers pace, it is clear that the success of REDD will ultimately depend upon effective forest protection. Fauna and Flora International has drawn on its 100 year history of habitat management to collate a series of lessons learnt and recommendations relevant to the development of REDD projects. Download the briefing here: http://www.fauna-flora.org/making-redd-work.php

Call for Action: Regional Forum for People and Forests - Carbon Financing
From 18 to 20 August 2009, the First Regional Forum for People and Forests analyzed the risks, opportunities, and constraints that carbon financing presents for Asia-Pacific's forest-dependent people. The Forum concluded that local people hold the key to healthy forests, and if forest carbon-financing schemes are to succeed they must actively engage and benefit these crucial stakeholders.
To view the Call for Action, click here, and for more information on the Forum: http://www.recoftc.org/site/

ARTICLES

A series of articles on REDD in the developing world published by the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net)
This spotlight offers a genuine international perspective to the debate, with a series of articles and commentaries written by experts including Godwin Kowero, head of the African Forest Forum in Kenya, N.H. Ravindranath and Shamama Afreen, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India, and Roman Czebiniak, policy advisor on climate change and forests for Greenpeace International. The collection of articles explores the role of science in informing REDD, examines what research is needed to implement it, considers key issues facing policymakers such as how to marry environmental and livelihood goals, and highlights the options for different regions of the developing world. Read SciDev.Net's spotlight on reducing forestry emissions here: More information on the UN REDD Programme: http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/reducing-forest-emissions