10 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released two documents related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) that will be considered during the 30th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), scheduled to take place in June 2009, in Bonn, Germany.

The first document, under the agenda item on reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action, is titled “Information on experiences and views on needs for technical and institutional capacity-building and cooperation” (FCCC/SBSTA/2009/MISC.2), and consists of seven submissions from parties. The document comprises information on needs for technical and institutional capacity building and cooperation in, inter alia: the implementation of methodologies for estimating and monitoring changes in forest cover and associated carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions; incremental changes due to sustainable management of forests; REDD; national and subnational monitoring and reporting systems; and methodologies for forest inventories, ground-based and remote-sensing approaches.
The second document, titled “Issues relating to indigenous people and local communities for the development and application of methodologies,” contains five submission by parties, which were requested at the 29th session of SBSTA on Agenda Item 5 (issues regarding indigenous and local communities’ development and application of methodologies regarding reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action) (FCCC/SBSTA/2008/13, para. 45). The compiled document (FCCC/SBSTA/2009/MISC.1) includes submissions from the Czech Republic, on behalf of the European Community; Ecuador; Guatemala; Panama; and Costa Rica. [Information on experiences and views on needs for technical and institutional capacity-building and cooperation] [Issues relating to indigenous people and local communities for the development and application of methodologies]