Towards Realising Potential of REDD Plus in South Asia

The special event, 'Towards Realizing Potential of REDD plus in South Asia' was organized by the Forestry and Biodiversity Group of TERI in association with International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India at the Taj Palace on 6 February 2014.

In his opening remarks, Dr David Moldem, Director-General, ICIMOD emphasized that REDD plus was beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and included incentives for ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of carbon stocks. Dr. R K Pachauri, Director-General TERI argued that REDD plus could be a win-win solution provided the design and implementation mechanism of the projects were effective and sustainable.

The chief guest Mr A K Srivastava, Additional Director General of Forests and Secretary MoEF, Dr David Moldem Director-General, ICIMOD and Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General TERI released the report titled 'Assessment for designing REDD Plus Projects in India' and a documentary titled 'Redemption' on this special occasion. The forestry and the biodiversity group prepared the assessment report and documentary as part of an ongoing REDD plus project.

The technical session chaired by Dr Jagdish Kishwan, Former Additional Director General of Forests (Wildlife), MoEF brought out fresh perspective and suggestions in executing REDD plus projects in India and South Asia. The panelists were Dr Rekha Pai, Inspector General of Forests (EAP), MoEF, Dr JV Sharma, Senior Fellow, TERI and Dr Bhaskar Karky, Resource Economist, ICIMOD. It was concluded that there was a great need for the exchange of experiences and best practices of REDD+ in the region.