October 2013: The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and SNV Viet Nam have developed a briefing note on participatory biodiversity monitoring (PBM) in REDD+. The brief presents key issues for the consideration of national REDD+ programmes in developing PBM.

The seven-page brief includes the following key messages: monitoring biodiversity impacts of national programmes, including REDD+ can contribute information on how countries are achieving the objectives of multilateral environment agreements; safeguard information systems for national REDD+ programmes can benefit from the information provided by participatory biodiversity monitoring (PBM) approaches; PBM can benefit REDD+ programmes as a relatively cost-effective and sustainable component of national forest monitoring systems; PBM can empower and encourage local stakeholder engagement in REDD+ processes and contribute to the full and effective participation of stakeholders; REDD+ schemes that can demonstrate biodiversity benefits may be more attractive to gain additional support; and PBM is unlikely to be the best solution in situations where complex equipment or expertise is needed to collect the data or where abstract indices of biodiversity are applied. [WCMC Press Release] [Publication: Participatory Biodiversity Monitoring for REDD+: Considerations for National REDD+ Programmes]