Event Details:

Dave Skole from the MSU Department of Forestry presents "Forests are in the Paris Climate Agreements, now what?"

With the landmark international agreements coming from COP21. forests and the forestry and agriculture sectors are playing an important role in reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). International climate action is not solely about fossil fuels anymore, and forest-related emissions mitigation will be significant actions in many developing countries around the world. Specific policies and measures for REDD+ will require technical means for forest measurement and low-carbon forest management. This presentation will discuss technical issues related to implementation for REDD+ strategies and programs, and the necessary capacity building that needs to be done if these strategies are to be successful.

The presentation draws on experience with three USAID projects in Malawi, India, and Indonesia and will emphasize the importance of approaches that engage livelihoods in low-income forest-dependent communities, who will be on the front line of mitigation and adaptation. It will also discuss some important technical issues of landscape-scale carbon management, particularly in sparse woodland ecosystems and systems of trees outside of forest (TOF) on agricultural land.