Forest cover can guide effective REDD+ development policies

The extent and rate of change to a country’s forest cover provides a useful guide for designing context-specific and effective REDD+ policies, according to researchers from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a U.N.-backed climate change mitigation scheme that aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by creating incentives that encourage land managers to conserve, restore and sustainably tend forests…"Many ask what is an appropriate REDD+ policy for a country, and the response is often: ‘it depends on national and local circumstances’. That is, of course, correct, but it is not a very useful reply," Angelsen said. To open up the "it depends" answer and to provide more policy guidance, Angelsen and Tom Rudel, a professor of human ecology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, wrote a paper titled "Designing and implementing effective REDD+ policies: A forest transition approach", published in Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.