23 August 2012: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN‐REDD Programme) has released the August edition of its newsletter, which reports on the launch by Ecuador of its national UN-REDD programme and a workshop held in Indonesia to solicit the views of stakeholders on the potential co-benefits of REDD+.

On other national activities, the newsletter highlights: the release of two studies in Zambia on drivers of deforestation and forest management for REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable use of forests and enhancement of carbon stock); and Kenya’s efforts to establish reference levels and monitoring systems for REDD+ readiness.

Ahead of the meeting of the REDD+ Partnership scheduled for 6-7 September 2012, in Bangkok, Thailand, the Newsletter fearures an article on authored by the Partnership co-chairs describing the history of the Partnership and its achievements since 2010.

The newsletter also: announces the voting period for the four new civil society representatives to the UN-REDD Policy Board; reports on the publication of two “Go-REDD+” issues from the UN-REDD Asia-Pacific Listserv; and announces the launch of the new UN-REDD Programme global website (www.un-redd.org). [Publication: UN-REDD August 2012 Newsletter]