Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
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On the other h<strong>and</strong>, there is a growing voluntary market for GHG emissions reductions<br />
from reforestation activities, notably based on the disposition of some companies to “neutralize”<br />
their past emissions. Although they are not official, these projects should go through additional<br />
auditing <strong>and</strong> certification processes in order to verify <strong>and</strong> measure the absorption of GHGs, as<br />
done with <strong>REDD</strong> projects. For indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s with previously degraded areas, especially if since<br />
before the year 1990 (the deadline for recognizing the additionality of GHG emissions reductions<br />
according to the Kyoto Protocol), this may also serve as an important market, which could even<br />
help financially with the recuperation of areas that are important to the territory’s environmental<br />
equilibrium.<br />
Can Reforestation <strong>and</strong>/or Reduced Emissions from <strong>Deforestation</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> Forest Degradation Activities (<strong>REDD</strong>+) be Carried out on<br />
<strong>Indigenous</strong> L<strong>and</strong>s?<br />
To the extent that the effects of climate change are becoming more obvious to society<br />
in general, the role that indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s play in stabilizing the climate has also been more <strong>and</strong><br />
more acknowledged because indigenous peoples are known for conserving large forest areas<br />
within their l<strong>and</strong>s., notably so in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of GHG emissions from the<br />
deforestation of tropical forests, where indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s have been providing an important<br />
service as barriers that contain <strong>Amazon</strong>ian deforestation. Also, indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s preserve<br />
valuable forest areas <strong>and</strong> other biomes in other regions of the country. Estimates show that in the<br />
regions of Mato Grosso <strong>and</strong> Rondônia, deforestation is almost ten times greater outside of legally<br />
protected areas, such as indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> conservation units, than inside these areas. 16<br />
According to data from the <strong>Amazon</strong> Institute of People <strong>and</strong> the Environment (Imazon),<br />
which monitors <strong>Amazon</strong> deforestation rates on a monthly basis, less than 1% (1 km2 ) of the<br />
verified deforestation in June of 2009 (150 km2), occurred on indigenous l<strong>and</strong>s. By contrast,<br />
within protected areas – areas created specifically for biodiversity conservation – deforestation<br />
during the same month came to 32 km2, or 21% of the total. 17 Additionally, data from the National<br />
Institute for Space Research (Inpe), collected up to 2008, indicates that indigenous territories total<br />
16 FERREIRA, Le<strong>and</strong>ro Valle; VENTICINQUE, Eduardo <strong>and</strong> ALMEIDA, Samuel. “O desmatamento na Amazônia e<br />
a importância das áreas protegidas” (<strong>Deforestation</strong> in the <strong>Amazon</strong> <strong>and</strong> the importance of protected areas). In<br />
Revista de Estudos Avançados 19 (53). Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA/USP), 2005.<br />
17 See: http://www.imazon.org.br/novo2008/publicacoes_ler.php?idpub=3609.<br />
80 Av o i d e d d e f o re s t A t i o n (redd) A n d i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s: experiences, chAllenges A n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s in t h e A m A zo n c o n t e x t
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