Resources

Dear Friends,Mutual recognition, mutual respect and mutual benefit are among the desirable attributes of all human relationships. Indigenous peoples and other forest peoples also expect these qualities in their relationships with others – be they governments, private corporations, NGOs or other indigenous peoples’ organisations and communities. This issue of Forest Peoples Programme’s E-Newsletter reports on the state of various relationships between forest peoples and different institutions – as these are forged, tested or broken –in the course of assertions for upholding basic human rights, social justice and solidarity.

The considerable threats faced by the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to draw global attention because of the crucial role these large forests play in regulating the global climate. Estimates indicate that the forests of the Congo Basin as a whole capture and store about 10 to 30 billion tons of carbon, an increasingly significant ecosystem service in light of concerns about climate change. In recent years, projects aimed at the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) have been developed to provide financial incentives based on performance to the owners of large areas of forests in order to reduce the loss of forests and promote the improvement of carbon stocks through conservation and tree planting.

Dear Friends,Whenever someone remarks that a solution is being frustrated by ‘lack of political will’, I automatically ask myself: whose is the political will and what are the interests pushing for the opposite? 

Dear Friends,

Including Updates and Analysis from Rio+20Dear Friends,

Incluindo Atualizações e Análises sobre a Rio+20Caros Amigos,

The Democratic Republic of Congo has recently submitted its Readiness Preparation Proposal for REDD (R-PP) to the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Considering that a successful outcome relies on ensuring effective participation by forest communities, indigenous peoples and civil society across the vast extent of the DRC's rainforest, this briefing asks: has the DRC followed best practice in this respect, as a UN agency is now claiming?FPP: Rights, forests and climate briefing series