This policy-brief examines a two year moratorium on new permits for primary natural forest and peat land that came into force in Indonesia on May 20th 2011. The brief aims to inform a range of decision-making actors in developing countries about the nature of improved forestry management in the face of a changing climate. It is asserted that the moratorium demonstrates progress in the areas of: data transparency, industry buy-in, political support and institutional co-ordination.

This report outlines how climate change is expected to have serious environmental, economic, and social impacts in South Africa. It states that rural farmers, whose livelihoods depend on the use of natural resources, are likely to bear the brunt of adverse impacts. The research uses a “bottom-up” approach to gain insights from the farmers themselves based on a farm household survey collected from 794 households in the Limpopo River Basin of South Africa for the farming season 2004–2005.

Current land management approaches focus on achieving ecological resilience for natural resources and biological diversity, and socioeconomic resilience for the people who depend on the land for their livelihoods and wellbeing. In the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, landscapes extend across national boundaries and their effective management requires cooperation among the countries sharing the transboundary area, particularly in light of the impacts being experienced from a wide range of drivers of change, including climate change.

This document presents a proposed methodology, and step-by-step guidance, for Participatory Subnational Planning (PSP), tailored to operationalise subnational REDD+ programmes. PSP is a participatory planning method presented as a comprehensive, yet cost-effective approach to identifying: drivers of deforestation and forest degradation; interventions to address these drivers; environmental and social benefits/risks of these interventions; and indicators and monitoring plans.

This ‘Inside story on climate compatible development’ by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) presents Ecuador’s Socio Bosque programme as a successful example of a voluntary incentive-based scheme with combined environmental and socioeconomic targets. It engages the poorest private and communal forest landholders and, through conservation agreements, offers them annual per-hectare payments in return for maintaining forest cover.

This collection of analyses spotlight cases and interviews with prominent women activists involved in natural resource management in Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines and China to better understand the diverse challenges faced by Asian women in relation to limited rights and insecure tenure. Despite contextual differences, the studies identify a number of similarities and trends.

The Forests and Climate Change Programme (FORCLIME) is a collaborative project implemented by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector and improve the livelihoods of Indonesia’s poor rural communities. This policy brief discusses the manner in which the FORCLIME initiative is contributing to the development of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in Indonesia.

Global reviews of the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture systems carried out in 2009 revealed a paucity and patchiness of information concerning climate impacts on the sector. Six follow-up regional case studies were then launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in an attempt to start filling the gaps and to provide direction and initial steps in adaptation planning. Fisheries and aquaculture systems were selected across the globe to allow for diversity.

This document details Vietnam’s progress in relation to Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Readiness; it was submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a World Bank programme that aims to assist developing countries with REDD+, during March 2012. It sets out a timeline of Vietnamese REDD+ Readiness; national REDD+ readiness management arrangements; stakeholder consultations and communication; REDD+ strategy preparation; the development of a reference scenario and monitoring, reporting and verification.

Drawing upon several sources of information and types of analysis, including literature reviews, field visits and rapid participatory assessments, this paper provides a critical assessment of land-related development policies and projects over the past two decades in Central America. Reflections on past land-related development policies and projects in Central America are based on their contributions to growth and poverty reduction.

Payments  for  ecosystem  services (PES)  provide a market based instrument to motivate changes in land use that degrade ecosystem services. This investigation sought  to better understand how effective PES schemes are in meeting the goals of safeguarding ecosystem services,  while  also  benefitting  local  livelihoods and ensuring pro-poor outcomes.Based on an internet survey of 36 PES projects, including water-bio-diversity and carbon- leading  attributes, and analysis of a sub-set of nine case studies, we explore a range of insights and commonalities between projects.

This paper argues that stakeholder groups – specifically indigenous and local communities living in or directly dependent upon forests – can often offer an important source of knowledge and capacity.

It highlights that these people can support data gathering for safeguard information needs, especially in places where existing monitoring systems cannot do so comprehensively. The paper argues that their involvement is important for protecting their rights, and critical for minimising the risk that REDD+, or the safeguards, could fail to meet their objectives.