Colombia Forests

It has been determined that 75% of the loss of forests is associated with agriculture and colonization. Other factors include livestock and agricultural land expansion, the colonization and/or displacement of populations, mining, illicit crops, the extraction of timber for selling and consumption, and forest fires as the direct causes of deforestation. The 947 million hectares of forests in Colombia are home to a vast cultural and biological diversity.

Colombia has decided to implement Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD+ strategy, which also includes the role of conservation, sustainable maintenance of forests, and the improvement of forest carbon reserves.

Three phases are recommended for the REDD+ strategy, which recognize the need for the capacity building, consultation, inclusion and respect for the communities in affected regions, such as indigenous and Afrocolombian groups, throughout the creation of the document for preparation (R-PP) and the implementation of the strategy.

Colombia is currently in the process of preparing the first version of the Readiness Preparation Plan (Marked in red on Timeline), or R-PP, which is the document created to plan the country’s preparation for the REDD strategy.

Timeline

 

Civil Society

Groups representing indigenous and Afrocolombian peoples expressed their expectations for the REDD+ strategy process, during the first workshop held about climate change, financing mechanisms for reducing emissions and the role of the communities, called “Primer Taller de Cambio Climático, mecanismos financieros para la reducción de emisiones y papel de las comunidades” (PDF, 2.1MB) (First Workshop on Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms for Reducing Emissions, and the Role of the Communities), organized by ILSA, which which took place in Bogota, from the 22nd to 25th of February, 2011. They have demanded that their opinion, knowledge, and rights be respected and protected.

REDD+ Strategy

REDD is a program through which the World Bank helps nations reduce greenhouse gas emissions by preventing and monitoring deforestation and degradation. However, the program is not supposed to solve the issue by itself; therefore one of its main goals is to strengthen institutions and find/provide alternatives for those who drive deforestation so that the country can independently maintain an effective system to reduce emissions.

Social and Environmental Safeguards

The social and environmental safeguards framework is central for REDD. The system to monitor how these issues are managed is based on the following:

1. Respect for the knowledge of the local ethnic communities meeting the country’s international obligations such as the ILO Convention 169, especially collective property rights that are also protected under the Colombian constitutional framework.
2. Ensure the full and effective participation of all actors
3. Be consistent with the country’s needs for adaptation
4. Be consistent with the environmental integrity objective and to take into account the different functions of forests and other ecosystems in each country. A strategy/plan should be build within the efforts of reducing poverty.
   The agreements established in Cancun 2010 serve as a framework for the REDD+ mechanism at a national level, that is not obligatory, but in participating, the country becomes subject to the commitment of meeting its goals.

Three phases are recommended for the REDD mechanism, which are:

Phase 1: To develop strategies/plans to identify the necessary policies or measures for the country, by building the capacity of at least 90% of the actors with all the necessary information, so that they can participate in decision-making and implementing strategy, in order to be efficient.

For this phase, it is necessary to construct the Readiness Preparation Plan (RPP) which is a document that will explain how Colombia will prepare to implement the REDD strategy. This is an optimal stage for the affected communities to influence. The first version of this document is currently being constructed and will be reviewed this June by the Participant Committee of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) which is a reference scenario to determine the goal of the reduction (For more detail, please refer to next section).

Phase 2: Implementation of a strategy/plan, with the respective national policies and measures, with a process of technology transfer to the country, overcoming the fallacies of the design phase and the support needed in technology and activities for demonstration based on results, without which it would not be possible to have a proper system to monitor deforestation.

Phase 3: Actions based on measurable, reportable, and verifiable results in which the country would demonstrate that it is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and through which it would receive financial support through a mechanism that is yet to be defined and based on Cancun 2010. Whether these will be Colombian, developed-country, or carbon market funds, it still under discussion. The source of the funds is clear, however, as it is required that developed countries support developing nations in these three phases, which does not mean interfering with country decisions, and that the implementation will be carried out according to the national circumstances.

R-PP

The R-PP is the plan of how the following will be achieved:

1) Strengthening capacity, which promises to include various actors of civil society, including indigenous peoples, such as COICA, PCN, OPIAC, and which will have information and a common language in order to know which are the advantages and disadvantages of the processes

2) Building a REDD+ route that will include all ideas, opinions, interest, and inputs of all of the country’s regions (which have been divided into Amazon, Pacific, Caribbean, Andean, and Orinoquia)

The RPP has six components: 1) organization and consultation, 2) preparing a REDD+ strategy, 3) establishing the reference levels, 4) the structure or design of the monitoring system, 5) elaborate a schedule and a budget, and 6) designing a framework for the entire program.

When this document is approved by the FCPF, the World Bank will grant $3.6 million to implement REDD. That is why it is so important that the document reflect the needs and inputs of all stakeholders.

Until now, the first component has been the most debated during the development of RPPs in other countries.

Some advances have been made in these components, as well as the identification of the requirements to complete them.

Component 1A: Institutionalism – CNA and CTI proposals have been submitted; still need the technical rules for the selection of projects and to determine how the communities will be included

Component 1B: Consultations – Mesa REDD has been created and there have been advances in strengthening capabilities; still need to articulate and develop a consultation and participation process, as well as more capacity building and (probably) publications

Component 2A: Policies and governance – A revision has been made to ECOVERSA-CAN; still missing data from other sectors such as growth projections, as well as a consulting process

Components 2B and 2C: REDD Strategy – The guidelines have been established according to UNFCCC, and there have been advances on the strategy; still need to develop the details of the strategy that address the differences between the regions

Component 2D: Impacts to the Strategy – there is still no progress; still need a SESA (Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment), and consulting on the issue

Component 3: Reference Scenario – almost complete; still need to figure out how to harmonize the different issues of financing by different donors

Component 4: Monitoring System – the system to monitor greenhouse gases (GHG) is almost complete; still need the system to monitor co-benefits

Component 5: Schedule and Budget – there is still no progress; need to identify the specific activities and how to identify financiers

Component 6: Monitoring of the project – there is still no progress; need to develop the management indicators and a system of disclosure

Common Approach

Members of the Task Force sent their recommendations on Environmental and Social safeguards for the REDD+ Strategy to the Participants Committee on June 9th, 2011, which they hoped would be approved during the PC9 meeting, and adopted as a common approach to the implementation of REDD by all delivery partners. The TF worked intensively for seven months to develop a consensus on the contents of the Common Approach, to decide on the Environmental and Social Safeguards for the implementation of REDD+ in the Pilot Countries by the Multiple Delivery Partners.

First, they focused on developing a common approach that was workable for the two DPs selected by the Pilot Countries. Representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme have been actively and extensively engaged in all aspects of the TF deliberations. The Asian Development Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization also provided background information ontheir safeguard policies and procedures. Also, the information on the current safeguard policies and procedures of both DPs was gathered and compared with the info provided by CSOs during a consultation to ensure that the safeguards were being implemented to their fullest extent. This information was all used as background information when comparing the DP safeguards to those of the World Bank, utilizing the Bank’s Operational Policies for identifying “gaps” between the two sets of safeguards.

The TF believes that the safeguards that they developed for the two DPs can be applied to all six DPs. Therefore, they have recommended to the Participants Committee a process for determining whether a potential DP can serve as a DP.

Read More

Common Approach
Task Force Conveyance Memo to PC9

Guidelines on Stakeholder Engagement

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the UN-REDD Programme presented a draft of the a set of guidelines for stakeholders engaged in REDD+ Readiness. They discuss the key elements of effective stakeholder engagement with an emphasis on the participation of indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities. The document discusses three main elements: 1) principles for effective participation and consultation, 2) operational guidelines, and 3) practical how to guidance on planning and implementing consultations. Furthermore, these guidelines also reiterate the purposes and values of the REDD+ program and acknowledges the risks of the program if it is not handled properly.

See Document

Guidelines for Stakeholder Engagement in REDD Readiness

CSO Statement on Common Approach

Civil society organizations presented their statement on the Common Approach, a document that was issued at the PC9 meeting in June, 2011 in Oslo, Norway. The Common Approach is a guide for implementing Readiness grants that administered by the chosen multiple delivery partners in the approved pilot countries.

The CSO statement presses on the need for social and environmental safeguards in order for the REDD+ Strategy to be socially and environmentally sustainable. The organizations who participated in this statement agree that the Common Approach will serve as a guide for countries to prepare for REDD activities. They express their approval for the set of protections that were provided in the document.

They reiterate the importance of the effective on-the-ground implementation of highly protective safeguards, which, at this point in REDD activities, is more critical as five additional pilot countries have been authorized. They also state the need for a well-established and fully funded accountability mechanism. In the statement, they stress the need for the active and meaningful participation of civil society; that stakeholders are well informed and that their recommendations be fully taken into account. They mention that in previous consultation efforts were unsuccessful because the time frame did not allow for the meaningful participation of stakeholders. Nonwithstanding, the statement commends many of the efforts by the FCPF and they state their commitment to cooperating in outreaching to southern civil society.

Finally, these organizations address bilateral and multilateral financial institutions and prompt them to practice good governance by recommending that they adopt high common standards for the provision of social and environmental safeguards, transparency, and accountability.

Read Statement

 

Interethnic Solidarity Forum of Chocó (FISCH)

In the “Common Agreement between FISCH and the R-PP Coordination of Colombia” (Acuerdo Agenda Comun FISCH y Coordinación R-PP Colombia), in which the organization lays out their expectations in terms of the process for the common agenda for the governance of ancient territory of the Afrocolombian, Pacific, Inter-Andean Valleys:

1. There is a “profound need” for the REDD+ process, which includes the development of the R-PP, “inform and generate the best effective participation of such communities”
2. That “the participation program must be developed with the communities…through their representatives”
3. That in order to advance an effective “information and enrollment” process for the Afrocolombian communities in the Pacific Region, the R-PP should be coordinated as such: set up an interlocution, coordination, and direct planning system between the community processes tso that Afrocolombian communities, the World Bank, ILSA, among other important actors can participate (see document)

They also established that for the process of elaborating Colombia’s R-PP regarding black, Afrocolombian communities of the Pacific Region, there needs to be a technical group that includes the members of the communities and government institutions, as well as national and international organizations “with specific work on technical and political issues.” It also needs to include other methodological aspects like the supply of information, capacity building, the enrollment of these communities, the elaboration of documents appropriate to the national contexts, and others (see document).

They also identified “immediate actions” for the participation of the communities in the elaboration of the R-PP, which are:

• To approve and offer guarantees for the communal technical and operative coordination team,
• Hold a technical workshop for information, coordination, and planning of immediate actions
• Elaborate a schedule of the process until the approval of the R-PP and the elaboration of REDD+ projects
• An evaluation of the process that was developed within the framework of both the technical and operative teams

Read Document
See PowerPoint presentation

The Coordinator of Amazon Basin Indigenous Organizations (COICA)

During the first workshop on climate change, COICA presented its reflections on climate change and financial mechanisms, which include eight general areas, which are 1) ensuring the wellbeing of the community, 2) territory, environment, and RRNN, 3) own legal systems, and constitutional rights, 4) strengthening of organization and ancestral knowledge, 5) academic and scientific training, 6) economy and development, 7) systems, technology, and communication, and 8) women and family. COICA expressed that their objective in terms of climate change is the “historical continuity and validity of the life of more than 390 indigenous peoples and nationalities, and ecosystem of the Amazon Basin.

COICA requests that the negotiation processes about REDD+ include debates, analyses, insights, and consensus on the content of the Biodiversity Convention, as binding legal instruments on the administration of forests and biodiversity resources. They demand respect for indigenous rights and to refer to international commitments that protect those rights such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ILO Convention 169. They also demand compliance with Free and prior informed consent in the design of proposals.

The organizations of COICA conclude that REDD+ will not be a solution “if indigenous peoples are not able to exercise their right to property, administration, and the control and management of their natural resources. Therefore, they determine that process of the REDD+ strategy needs to consult these communities and base the consultations on the free and prior informed consent, and demand that specific actions be taken to protect the rights of the indigenous in the Amazon Basin (see document).

See PowerPoint presentation

Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments for REDD:

What it is, Why it matters, and How to do it

The Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) has been established by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) as the instrument to ensure that environmental and social concerns are integrated into the National REDD Strategy process and that the FCPF readiness activities comply with applicable safeguards. The mainstreaming of SESA into the readiness and preparatory work of REDD+ strengthens the policy space already created by the preparation of the R-PP to effectively address land issues, drivers of deforestation, institutional capacity, and transparent and accurate determination of a country’s reference scenario and measures of carbon stock and flows, among other factors for a National REDD+ Strategy to work. This booklet (PDF 2851.3 KB, currently only available in Spanish) outlines what SESA is and how the assessment is made.

Third Workshop on Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms for Reducing Emissions, and the Role of the Communities, Buga, 29-30 de Septiembre, 2011

After analyzing the fourth version of the R-PP presented in Oslo and after not receiving signals or responses from MAVDT to the proposals made by Afro-Colombian communities, Agenda Común delivered a new, concrete proposal for the R-PP, and organized a third workshop. This workshop was attended by about fifty people from different communities of the Pacific region, as well as the new Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS), represented by Lucio Andres Santos and Adriana Lagos, who coordinate the REDD process, and Andres Ricardo Morales of the environment arm of the National Planning Department (DNP).

At this workshop it was once again agreed that the R-PP serves as a navigation chart to guide the preparation process of the country’s REDD Strategy, and should therefore be clear and concrete in certain key aspects to ensure an effective REDD Strategy. Several commitments were made during the workshop:

i) the incorporation of proposals drafted during the workshop into the R-PP before PC10 that relate to drivers of deforestation, territory and participation;

ii) a National SESA workshop to be held in 2012; and

iii) a Regional SESA Workshop to be held in the Pacific, also in 2012.

With regard to drivers of deforestation, it was observed that the R-PP should explicitly highlight the need to guarantee inter-sectorial coordination and synchronization of the REDD Strategy with the current National Development Plan (PND). This implies a solid analysis of the impacts of the main sectors of growth (Locomotoras de Crecimiento) within the PND that were also identified as principal drivers of deforestation within the R-PP. An active role of the National Planning Department is clearly critical for such coordination, but their presence has been almost inexistent in the process thus far. Regarding the issue of territory, the importance of the R-PP’s clear stance on several issues was brought to attention: the need to work on and resolve issues of legalization and organization by possession in collective titling; the problem of overlaps between national parks or mining titles and collective territories; the regulation of chapters IV, V, VI and VII of Law 70; and the moratorium or legal actions for protection against unlawful contracts signed for voluntary markets by communities. On the topic of participation, it was discussed that the R-PP should explicitly reflect guarantees for the participation of communities in decision-making, planning, implementation and monitoring with voice and vote throughout the preparation of the REDD Strategy and the SESA process. This implies that the R-PP include elements that can later be captured to ensure the participation of communities in developing the Decree of Operating Regulations for the National System for Climate Change (SNCC) that is to be approved in January of 2012.

Presentations (in Spanish)

CONPES de Cambio Climatico, Nueva Institucionalidad y Participación Ciudadana, DNP Andres Morales (PDF, 2,410KB)
Desarrollo Ambiental Comunitario, Costa Caucana (PDF, 3,980KB)
Evaluacion Ambiental y Social Estratégica (SESA), BIC (PDF, 1,986KB)
Fedena Simap Zone Duende, Wilson Fabian Arias Ocampo (PDF, 3,141KB)
Manejo Forestal y de bosque comunitario, Fundacion Fallarones (PDF, 6,121KB)
Mecanismos voluntarios, Fundacion Natura, Susana Velez (PDF, 2,269KB)
Presentación Cali Ministerio Ambiente (PDF, 1,080KB)
Situacion forestal en Colombia, German Alonzo Paez Olaya (PDF, 3,108KB)

 

Second Workshop on Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms for Reducing Emissions, and the Role of the Communities, Bogota, 26-27 Mayo, 2011

Following the conclusion of the First Workshop on Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms for Reducing Emissions, and the Role of Communities, delegates of participating communities represented by the Common Agenda Process, for Governance in Ancestral Territories of Black Communities and Inter-Andean Valleys, and the Interethnic Forum of the Chocó (FISCH)– in agreement with the consultants of the R-PP document for Colombia, and the Natural Heritage Foundation– held four zonal events in the Pacific. On the 18th of March, consultants of the R-PP circulated the draft R-PP that was presented to the FCPF and UN-REDD, and had made comments on the document. The socialization of the draft R-PP represents some progress in terms of the reality of other negotiation process.

The second workshop was convened with the purpose of strengthening the capacity of community leaders for advocacy during the construction of the R-PP and in international negotiations of the Participants Committee (PC) of the FCPF.

Presentations (in Spanish)

Report on the Colombian R-PP, Camilo Ortega (PDF, 2,361KB)
The Opportunity Cost and the Implementation Cost of REDD, IDEAM (PDF, 2,523KB)
Monitoring, Reporting and Verification, Claudia Romero (PDF, 3,709KB)
Building a Proposal for REDD Indigena, AIDESEP (PDF, 2,540KB)
REDD International Policy Advocay, BIC (PDF, 77KB)

First Workshop on Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms for Reducing Emissions, and the Role of the Communities, Bogota, February 22-25, 2011

The Latin America Institute for an Alternative Society and an Alternative Law (ILSA), BIC’s main partner organization in Bogota, Colombia is active in monitoring and working with civil society in regards to the REDD+ process. Very importantly, they conducted a workshop on climate change, financial mechanisms for reducing emission, and the role of communities as it was largely a success by being referred to directly many times throughout the subsequent draft of Colombia’s Readiness Preparation Plan (June 2011).

Summary

“Primer Taller de Cambio Climático, mecanismos financieros para la reducción de emisiones y papel de las comunidades” (PDF, 2.1MB)

Presentations (in Spanish)

“Report on the Colombian proposal for REDD Strategy (R-PP Colombia)”, Sergio Camilo Ortega (Coordinador Desarrollo R-PP Colombia), (PowerPoint, 3.1 MB)
“Natural Resources, Territory and Land Community Rights”, Alberto Moya Mena (Foro Interetnico Solidaridad Choco FISCH) (PowerPoint, 3.1MB)
“Reflexions of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change and Financial Mechanisms”, Diego Escobar (COICA), (PowerPoint, 3.4MB)
“The Bolivian position on Climate Change Negotiations”, Embassy of Bolivia, (PowerPoint, 206MB)
“Financial Mechanisms for REDD+”, Gerardo Segura (FCPF, FIP), (PowerPoint, 1.3MB)

Colombia R-PP

R-PP Fifth Draft, September, 2011 (PDF, 7,533KB)
R-PP Fourth Draft August, 2011 (PDF, 3,860KB)
R-PP Third Draft, June, 2011 (PDF, 5.61MB)
R-PP Second Draft, April, 2011 (PDF, 3.4MB)
R-PP First Draft, March 2011 (PDF, 3MB)
Colombia R-PIN (PDF, 833KB)

Civil Society

Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments for REDD: What it is, why it matters, and how to do it (PDF 2851.3 KB) (Spanish version)
Statement of the Afro colombian comunities during the PC10 in Berlin, Germany-October 2011 (PDF, 187KB)
Colombian R-PP Comments by Agenda Comun-September 8th, 2011 (PDF, 485KB)
Colombian R-PP Comments by Agenda Comun-August 16h, 2011 (PDF, 201KB)
Colombia R-PP Comments by Agenda Comun-August 8th, 2011 (PDF, 376KB)
Acuerdo Agenda Comun Fisch y Coordinacion R-PP Colombia (PDF, 179KB)
First Workshop REDD and Climate Change Colombia (PDF, 2,142KB)

Overview

CONPES 3700 National System for Climate Change (PDF, 1,159KB)

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

Guidelines on Stakeholder Engagement in REDD+ Readiness, (PDF, 776KB)
Draft Attachment 1A of IDB Common Approach to Environmental and Social Safeguards, May 3, 2011 (Word Document, 443KB)

TAP Review

Colombia TAP Synthesis Review, May 17, 2011 (PDF, 438KB)
Colombia – Consolidated External TAP Review (Word document, 82KB)

Participants Committee

Colombia PC Review, June 8, 2011 (PDF 56KB)

REDD+ Partnership

Partner Country Framework Document (PDF, 308KB)

Forest Investment Program

None

UN REDD

None

Government of Colombia

Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible

Asesor Grupo Mitigacion del Cambio Climatico
Lucio Andres Santos Acuña
LSantos@minambiente.gov.co

Consultora Social R-PP
Adriana Lagos
arena@etb.net.co

Coordinadora Oficina de Cambio Climatico
Andrea Garcia Guerrero
agarcia@minambiente.gov.co

Departamento Nacional de Planeacion

Subdireccion de Medio Ambiente
Andres Ricardo Morales
amorales@dnp.gov.co

Civil Society

Agenda Comun

Jose Absalon Suarez
suarezsolis@hotmail.com
Daniel Garces
dagarca26@hotmail.com

Foro Interetnico Solidaridad Choco – FISCH

Albeiro Moya
albeiromoya@gmail.com

Ecofondo

Juan Camilo Mira
mira_juan@yahoo.com

ILSA

Mayra Tenjo
mayraj@ilsa.org.co