22 April 2010: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has published its ninth volume of the “REDD-plus & Biodiversity e-Newsletter.” Aiming to inform CBD national focal points and partners about biodiversity aspects related to reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+), this volume highlights a new collaboration between the CBD and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), and several projects and publications related to REDD+.

The e-Newsletter includes a call for abstracts for the International Conference on Biodiversity Conservation in Transboundary Tropical Forests, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from 21-24 July 2010, including a call for papers exploring the potential of REDD+ for transboundary conservation. This conference will be the first joint activity under the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding between the CBD and ITTO. The e-Newsletter also includes a call for participation in a survey on national implementation risks for REDD-plus from the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry.
Also highlighted in the e-Newsletter are: a forest restoration project in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil that has been validated under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS); and a REDD project in Madre de Dios in the Peruvian Amazon that has achieved Gold Level CCBS status. The e-Newsletter further includes reviews of three publications: “The Little Climate Finance Book” released by the Global Canopy Programme; “Protecting Community Rights over Traditional Knowledge: Implications of customary laws and practices” by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED); and “The Challenges of Environmental Mainstreaming: Experiences of integrating environment into development institutions and decisions” also from IIED. [The Newsletter]