TY - JOUR
T1 - Anticipating social equity impacts in REDD+ policy design
T2 - An example from the Democratic Republic of Congo
AU - Pelletier, Johanne
AU - Horning, Ned
AU - Laporte, Nadine
AU - Samndong, Raymond Achu
AU - Goetz, Scott
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NASA/USAID Grant No. NNX12AL27G . We warmly thank the inhabitants of the Buya I village for their participation in this study. We thank Dauphin Mboka, Vinny Nkoso Lokul, Roger Ngange, Jean-Claude Lofete, Patrice Bondongo, Felly Baoto, Tipo Simba, Marie Boketshu, Bomuese Ixpoli, Pierre Basili, Igola Bofambaito, Epanda Bokeka, Kembo Inukia, Sumaili Ramazani, Angélique Epangonda for their contribution to the participatory mapping. We also thank Gédéon Boyo, Paul Itanga, Aboubakar Ikelemba, Petronel Andondo, Clément Botefa, Frido Bosulu, Gode Lompoko, Papy Ithambala, Nestor Betulu, and Crispin Bombito for their contribution on the household survey. We are grateful to Joseph Zambo and Melaine Kermarc for their support in coordinating the field team, organizing field logistics and their intellectual input. DigitalGlobe data were provided by NASA's NGA Commercial Archive Data ( cad4nasa.gsfc.nasa.gov ) under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's NextView license agreement. We also thank the JGI and Google.org for making available electronic tablets for the household survey, and Yeon Su Kim for comments on the manuscript. We acknowledge support from Norway’s Center for Global Development via the Congo Basin Forest Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - Equity is a sensitive topic discussed under the REDD+ mechanism. This study focuses on the impact of prevailing social and ecological conditions on the potential equity outcome of REDD+ intervention at the local level. Working at a REDD+ pilot project site in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we present a quantitative framework to assess contextual equity at the village level. We conducted a full community census on household characteristics and livelihood practices to evaluate current social conditions. We used participatory mapping and remote sensing analysis of a time series of very high resolution imagery over a 10-year period within the village boundaries to examine the ecological context of land use. We identify important differences between 379 households in terms of social characteristics and livelihoods practices. Social differentiation strongly relates to customary land rights as well as gender, ethnicity and origin. Using this case study, we find REDD+ activities that can be implemented under the prevailing ecological conditions could impact community members differently, by reducing access to land for a segment of the population that is already under stress, and therefore have implications on equity in both space and time. We identify important risks for sectors of the population that do not have the contextual features necessary for benefitting from REDD+ implementation and may be impacted, directly and indirectly, by decisions linked to benefit-sharing. We argue that such quantitative assessment is valuable to inform REDD+ policy design on the way livelihood practices and social characteristics are interlinked and how they affect forest cover change. This information can be used to anticipate potential equity issues that may arise with REDD+ implementation. We suggest that contextually informed definitions of the benefits and costs are critical for achieving equity in benefit-sharing. A flexible adaptive management and equity conscious approach is recommended from the policy design to implementation, by anticipating and mitigating potential risks of REDD+ interventions in order to promote equitable outcomes at the local level.
AB - Equity is a sensitive topic discussed under the REDD+ mechanism. This study focuses on the impact of prevailing social and ecological conditions on the potential equity outcome of REDD+ intervention at the local level. Working at a REDD+ pilot project site in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we present a quantitative framework to assess contextual equity at the village level. We conducted a full community census on household characteristics and livelihood practices to evaluate current social conditions. We used participatory mapping and remote sensing analysis of a time series of very high resolution imagery over a 10-year period within the village boundaries to examine the ecological context of land use. We identify important differences between 379 households in terms of social characteristics and livelihoods practices. Social differentiation strongly relates to customary land rights as well as gender, ethnicity and origin. Using this case study, we find REDD+ activities that can be implemented under the prevailing ecological conditions could impact community members differently, by reducing access to land for a segment of the population that is already under stress, and therefore have implications on equity in both space and time. We identify important risks for sectors of the population that do not have the contextual features necessary for benefitting from REDD+ implementation and may be impacted, directly and indirectly, by decisions linked to benefit-sharing. We argue that such quantitative assessment is valuable to inform REDD+ policy design on the way livelihood practices and social characteristics are interlinked and how they affect forest cover change. This information can be used to anticipate potential equity issues that may arise with REDD+ implementation. We suggest that contextually informed definitions of the benefits and costs are critical for achieving equity in benefit-sharing. A flexible adaptive management and equity conscious approach is recommended from the policy design to implementation, by anticipating and mitigating potential risks of REDD+ interventions in order to promote equitable outcomes at the local level.
KW - Benefit sharing
KW - Customary system
KW - Democratic Republic of Congo
KW - Equity
KW - Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.03.011
DO - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.03.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044141305
SN - 0264-8377
VL - 75
SP - 102
EP - 115
JO - Land Use Policy
JF - Land Use Policy
ER -