The Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) additional director Dr Alok Saxena said that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD plus) programmes, if implemented properly have the potential for improving the livelihood of forest dwelling communities. He said this at the inauguration of a two-day training workshop on REDD plus for the officers of the Indian Forest Service organised by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) here.
Saxena said that the local communities that have been traditionally conserving their forests can benefit financially from REDD plus projects in terms of payment for environmental services, a term which is quite new to India. Tackling deforestation and forest degradation is important for implementing REDD plus at national level, he said while asking the forest officers to account and document carbon benefits to the nation flowing from forests and how to develop a system of payments to communities.
ICFRE deputy director general (Administration) Dr SP Singh said that REDD plus capacity building is a must for forest officers and other front line forest staff. The training workshop is aimed at providing basic information on technical aspects related to measurement of forest carbon stocks for developing inventories of forest ecosystems and to enable the IFS officers to better understand technical options of REDD plus. About two dozen IFS officers from various state forest departments are participating in the workshop. Globally large scale deforestation has been one of the major source of greenhouse gas emission.
REDD plus under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) intends to give financial incentives to the developing countries for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, promoting forest conservation and sustainable management of forests.