The article is a primer on the opportunity and potential of
REDD+ and summarizes the proceedings of a recently concluded
workshop on deforestation drivers in the north east and the
roles REDD+ financing can play in forestry conservation Eighty
percent of the Earth’s above-ground terrestrial carbon and forty
percent of below-ground terrestrial carbon is captured by
forests acting as carbon sinks. Deforestation and degradation
has made these forests active sources of carbon emissions
responsible for 15% of global carbon emissions. The current
global deforestation rate has been estimated to be at 13 million
ha/yr for 1990-2005 as per the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO). Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation (REDD), a relatively new market-based
mechanism in the carbon markets aims to reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation.
REDD+ was initially introduced as a part of Kyoto Protocol
negotiations but was dropped from the main agenda to reap