5 February 2013: The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has highlighted an article published in the Review Environmental Economics and Policy on designing effective REDD+ policies within three forest types, namely: remote (core) forest areas; frontier forests; and forest-agriculture mosaics.

The article, titled “Designing and Implementing Effective REDD+ Policies: A Forest Transition Approach,” is published as Volume 7, Issue 1, of the Oxford Review Environmental Economics and Policy. It explores the differences between remote forests, where protection is driven by difficulty with access, frontier forests where land tenure is often a key policy issue, and forest-agriculture mosaics where economic incentives often determine land-use choices.

Given different drivers of loss and policy considerations, the article highlights the need to manage different forest types differently. In remote forests, it emphasizes the need to avoid large infrastructure or settlement projects that might change access. In frontier forests, the article suggests that payments for ecosystem services and addressing perverse incentives can be an effective policy options. Finally, in forest-agriculture mosaics, the article calls for improving access to technologies and increasing incentives for sustainable forest management (SFM).

CIFOR is a CGIAR Consortium Research Center. [CIFOR Press Release] [Publication: Designing and Implementing Effective REDD+ Policies: A Forest Transition Approach]