To get the best for and from Africa, REDD negotiators must hear
African viewpoints, says head of the African Forest Forum,
Godwin Kowero. In the run-up to this year's global climate
negotiations in Copenhagen, the international community is
fiercely debating proposals for mitigating climate change,
including strategies for reducing emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation (REDD). African forests — which cover 635
million hectares and account for 16 per cent of the world's
forests — are attracting increasing attention. Partly, this is
because of their potential as a sink for carbon dioxide. And
partly, it is because unsustainable land use, including
agricultural expansion, commercial harvesting and urbanisation,
is driving high rates of deforestation and forest degradation on
the continent, making it an obvious target for REDD strategies.
But unless African forestry perspectives are included in global
climate change debates, REDD policies for the continent risk
being inadequate or inappropriate. Mak