WLT/IUCN-NL REDD+ Training Programme
Knowledge exchange and networking for African NGOs: using carbon as a funding mechanism for conservation.
In 2010, WLT, in collaboration with the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands (IUCN NL), developed and carried out a training programme on the use of carbon as a funding mechanism for conservation with the aim of enabling our African partner NGOs to benefit from increased carbon funding opportunities. The programme focused on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) in particular as it is considered the most promising bio-carbon financing mechanism for the future. The programme was funded mainly by IUCN NL’s Ecosystem Grants Programme with additional contributions from the WLT.
Workshops were held in Ghana and Uganda and attended by participants from 21 organisations from all over Africa. The objective was to assist partners through training and networking to assess whether REDD+ was a suitable option for their organisation and to improve access to carbon funding, thereby adding to their conservation effectiveness and long term financial sustainability. This would also create a network of stronger African NGOs positioned to profit from carbon opportunities, spreading knowledge and capacity to mitigate climate change whilst delivering many other environmental benefits.
The programme has received excellent feedback and confirmed the need and demand for capacity building in this area. It is clear that good, innovative demonstration projects are needed to get policy-makers to start talking with project implementers and to help link the climate negotiations to practical experience. Early success is important for leveraging more political acceptance and stakeholder interest.
WLT has produced a report based on the training programme “Using carbon as a funding mechanism for conservation; Is REDD+ right for you? An introductory Guide” collating the main outcomes which we hope will be of use to a wider audience. The report provides introductions to key issues and aims to condense the most useful outcomes from the two workshops, focussing on key points raised, questions, barriers and lessons learnt from both the trainers’ and participants’ experiences.
One of the key outcomes from these workshops was the realisation of the commitments required from a NGO to fully engage in a REDD+ project and that it is not necessarily suitable for everyone in their present capacity.
- So how does an organisation know if it is ready to tackle a REDD+ project?
- What sort of questions do they need to ask themselves?
- And if they’re not ready, what alternatives are there to help prepare for future engagement?
We hope this report will help NGOs answer these questions and will add to existing resources. For example we include a feasibility study template with extensive guidance notes drawn from trainers’ experience and feedback from the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) who develop project standards. This is a key document of any REDD+ project development plan and we hope this template will provide useful guidance.
The training was held in English but both French and English versions of this report are available. They are available in both interactive PDF format and CD for those NGOs who have difficulties accessing the internet.
More information can be found and will be posted on IUCN–NL’s Nature and Poverty portal: http://www.natureandpoverty.net/carbon-africa/