Effective implementation of REDD+ activities, the integration of environmental, social, and economic needs must be considered to achieve sustainable forest management. The Royal Government of Cambodia and development partners should seek to build community knowledge regarding REDD+ concept, and laws relevant to REDD+. Representatives of local communities and CSOs in the national REDD+ structure must be selected democratically.

Read RECOFTC’s digital annual report, “Building resilience through community forestry.” This report covers the period October 2017 to September 2019.

This is a case study under the USAID supported "Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Program" for  Na Ot village, Na Ot commune, Mai Son district, Son La province, Viet Nam. The Na Ot villagers have protected their forest ever since the establishment of the village, but poverty has been one of the reasons why they didn’t take part in the protection more proactively in the previous years as they had to focus on income generation.

The Rights-based Approach (RBA) allows local communities, or others who are marginalized, excluded or discriminated (the rights holders), to exercise their rights; and for institutions, organizations or other agencies (the duty bearers) to provide support towards equitable and inclusive development programmes that benefit them. RBA interventions can address inequities and disparities evident in these communities. In the context of the management of forested landscapes, RBA emphasizes the rights of local communities for fair benefits, access to resources, secure tenure and gender equity.

Over 200 participants including 134 international delegates from 20 countries convened on 8–9 August 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, for two days of deliberations on the potential of community forestry to address some of the biggest challenges we face today. Be it persistent rural poverty, climate change, governance, deforestation, or rights of indigenous and local people, there were questions raised and solutions offered in several packed sessions ending in a Vision 2020 exercise and a Call for Action at the close of the Forum.

International discussions on REDD+ and climate change have explicitly addressed the needs of indigenous peoples. However, to date, efforts to link REDD+ and climate change activities to the specific protection of rights of women have been very limited. This brief explores how REDD+ planning and implementation can and should enhance the conditions of rural women in Asia and the Pacific.

Under present and foreseeable economic and social trends in the Asia-Pacific region, can we achieve sustainable forest management and better realize the potential of forests and forestry to contribute to improved human well-being? 

This brief discusses how gender perspectives are being integrated in Cambodia's forest policies, laws and regulations in terms of women's representation, participation, access and decision-making in forest use and management. The brief also highlights the key challenges that prevail and outlines recommendations to promote gender mainstreaming further in forestry.

Within the context of RECOFTC’s overall goal to strengthen rights, improve governance and ensure equitable benefits to forest dependent men, women and other excluded groups, RECOFTC has been implementing a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP) funded project entitled “Mainstreaming Gender into Forest Policies”.

The training manual on improving grassroots equity in the forests and climate change context, aims to develop the knowledge and capacity needed among grassroots facilitators to implement genuinely participatory processes for improving grassroots equity in forest-based climate change policy frameworks, mechanisms and initiatives.

A national seminar on Gender, Forestry, and REDD+ was held on 27 July, 2012 at the Himawari Hotel in Phnom Penh. The seminar was initiated by Pact and organized in collaboration with WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources) and the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC). The purpose of the seminar was to draw attention to the issues of gender in the forestry sector, with a specific focus on community forestry and REDD+.

In this context, RECOFTC and USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific have developed a framework for better understanding and assessing climate change vulnerabilities in a context of multiple competing interests in a CF landscape. The pilot site for developing this approach was a women-led Community Forestry User Group (CFUG) in the Terai of Nepal; the Bishnupur community forest. The context in Bishnupur reflects challenges associated with the ecologically fragile Chure Forest, but also one of growing opportunities for economic development due to the close proximity of the Indian border.