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Implementation of REDD+ in sub-Saharan Africa: state of knowledge, challenges and opportunities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

MATIEU HENRY ,
DANAE MANIATIS ,
VINCENT GITZ ,
DAVID HUBERMAN  and
RICCARDO VALENTINI
MATIEU HENRY
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Ecologia Forestale, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente Forestale e delle sue Risorse, Facoltà di Agraria, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Via Camillo de Lellis, snc – 01100, Viterbo, Italy; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 210 Eco&Sols (INRA-IRD-SupAgro), France; and AgroParisTech-ENGREF, GEEFT, France. Email: henry@unitus.it
DANAE MANIATIS
Affiliation:
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK. Email: danae.maniatis@gmail.com
VINCENT GITZ
Affiliation:
Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement, France. Email: gitz@centre-cired.fr
DAVID HUBERMAN
Affiliation:
International Union for Conservation of Nature – Economics and Environment, Switzerland. Email: david.huberman@iucn.org
RICCARDO VALENTINI
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Ecologia Forestale, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente Forestale e delle sue Risorse, Facoltà di Agraria, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Italy. Email: rik@unitus.it
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Abstract

Deforestation and forest degradation represent an important part of global CO2 emissions. The identification of the multiple drivers of land-use change, past and present forest cover change and associated carbon budget, and the presence of locally adapted systems to allow for proper monitoring are particularly lacking in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Any incentive system to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) will have to overcome those limits. This paper reviews the main challenges to implementing effective REDD+ mitigation activities in SSA. We estimate that SSA is currently a net carbon sink of approximately 319 TgCO2 yr−1. Forest degradation and deforestation put the forest carbon stock at risk (mean forest carbon stock is 57,679 TgC). Our results highlight the importance of looking beyond the forest sector to ensure that REDD+ efforts are aligned with agricultural and land-use policies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 16 , Special Issue 4: REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION (REDD) , August 2011 , pp. 381 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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