
FORESTS NEWS
Photo Essay / 7 Nov 2017
COP23 Special: Sharing the benefits of REDD+ in Burkina Faso
How funds are split among groups on the ground
Nigna Latifa, Dadjan Wassinatou and Nacro Rainatou carry baskets of freshly harvested cotton along a road near Zorro village, Burkina Faso. CIFOR Photo/Ollivier Girard
As Burkina Faso’s dry forest landscapes come under the dual pressures of climate change and land-use change, REDD+ has been introduced as a possible solution for people and the environment.
The scheme aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, while supporting conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of carbon stocks. Social safeguards are also part of the deal, promising a fair distribution of benefits among local communities.
More than half a decade on since the country began readying for REDD+ in 2011, how are communities splitting the benefits, and what has it meant for their livelihoods?
These are some of the questions raised in a recent study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The study finds differences in how women, men and youth are benefitting from REDD+, as well as among different ethnic groups and sectors of work.
“It’s necessary to invest in research that explores all the contours of REDD+ benefit-sharing in order to understand the profitability and equity of different mechanisms,” says CIFOR scientist Hermann Kambiré, who led the study’s four-person research team.
“It is premature to address anything, given that projects are still in an embryonic stage. Rather, the objectives of this study were to generate knowledge on the links between REDD+, benefit-sharing and policymaking processes.”