Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+

The ‘Bali Road Map’ of UNFCCC COP-13 calls for sharing lessons learned from demonstration activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks (now known as ‘REDD+’). To develop a feasible yet rigorous strategy for learning from these REDD+ pilo...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Caplow, S., Jagger, P., Lawlor, K., Sills, E.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20647
_version_ 1855536814228504576
author Caplow, S.
Jagger, P.
Lawlor, K.
Sills, E.
author_browse Caplow, S.
Jagger, P.
Lawlor, K.
Sills, E.
author_facet Caplow, S.
Jagger, P.
Lawlor, K.
Sills, E.
author_sort Caplow, S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The ‘Bali Road Map’ of UNFCCC COP-13 calls for sharing lessons learned from demonstration activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks (now known as ‘REDD+’). To develop a feasible yet rigorous strategy for learning from these REDD+ pilots, it is critical to assess previous efforts to evaluate the impacts of ‘pre-REDD+’ avoided deforestation projects. Further, because REDD+ remains a politically volatile issue, with both critics and supporters pointing to the impacts (or lack thereof) of these pre-REDD+ projects, it is important to critically examine the methods employed to assess those impacts. We review the body of literature that makes claims about the socioeconomic and biophysical impacts of pre-REDD+ projects. We find assessments of outcomes or impacts for only five pre-REDD projects. The design, data collection, and analysis methods for understanding the impacts of pre-REDD+ projects frequently lack rigor. In particular, the counterfactual scenarios for establishing socioeconomic impacts are vague, unscientific, or omitted completely. We conclude that drawing specific lessons from pre-REDD+ projects for the design or evaluation of current REDD+ projects is tenuous. Rigorous project evaluations are challenging, expensive, and time-consuming, but because they are so critical for learning about what works for people and forests, evaluations of current REDD+ projects must use improved methods. In particular, much better care should be taken to construct credible – and where possible, consistent – counterfactuals for both biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace20647
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2011
publishDateRange 2011
publishDateSort 2011
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace206472024-08-27T10:36:56Z Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+ Caplow, S. Jagger, P. Lawlor, K. Sills, E. redd-plus deforestation impact evaluation carbon conservation social impact The ‘Bali Road Map’ of UNFCCC COP-13 calls for sharing lessons learned from demonstration activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks (now known as ‘REDD+’). To develop a feasible yet rigorous strategy for learning from these REDD+ pilots, it is critical to assess previous efforts to evaluate the impacts of ‘pre-REDD+’ avoided deforestation projects. Further, because REDD+ remains a politically volatile issue, with both critics and supporters pointing to the impacts (or lack thereof) of these pre-REDD+ projects, it is important to critically examine the methods employed to assess those impacts. We review the body of literature that makes claims about the socioeconomic and biophysical impacts of pre-REDD+ projects. We find assessments of outcomes or impacts for only five pre-REDD projects. The design, data collection, and analysis methods for understanding the impacts of pre-REDD+ projects frequently lack rigor. In particular, the counterfactual scenarios for establishing socioeconomic impacts are vague, unscientific, or omitted completely. We conclude that drawing specific lessons from pre-REDD+ projects for the design or evaluation of current REDD+ projects is tenuous. Rigorous project evaluations are challenging, expensive, and time-consuming, but because they are so critical for learning about what works for people and forests, evaluations of current REDD+ projects must use improved methods. In particular, much better care should be taken to construct credible – and where possible, consistent – counterfactuals for both biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes. 2011-03 2012-06-04T09:15:03Z 2012-06-04T09:15:03Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20647 en Limited Access Elsevier Caplow, S., Jagger, P., Lawlor, K., Sills, E. 2011. Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+. Environmental Science and Policy 14 (2) :152-167. ISSN: 1462-9011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2010.10.003
spellingShingle redd-plus
deforestation
impact
evaluation
carbon
conservation
social impact
Caplow, S.
Jagger, P.
Lawlor, K.
Sills, E.
Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title_full Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title_fullStr Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title_short Evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects: lessons for learning about REDD+
title_sort evaluating land use and livelihood impacts of early forest carbon projects lessons for learning about redd
topic redd-plus
deforestation
impact
evaluation
carbon
conservation
social impact
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20647
work_keys_str_mv AT caplows evaluatinglanduseandlivelihoodimpactsofearlyforestcarbonprojectslessonsforlearningaboutredd
AT jaggerp evaluatinglanduseandlivelihoodimpactsofearlyforestcarbonprojectslessonsforlearningaboutredd
AT lawlork evaluatinglanduseandlivelihoodimpactsofearlyforestcarbonprojectslessonsforlearningaboutredd
AT sillse evaluatinglanduseandlivelihoodimpactsofearlyforestcarbonprojectslessonsforlearningaboutredd