Workshop report: National Workshop on REDD+ Safeguards, Paro, Bhutan, October 2015

The workshop report describes the results of the ‘National Workshop on REDD+ Safeguards’, held in October 2015 at Namsay Chholing Resort in Paro, Bhutan, as part of Bhutan’s REDD+ Readiness Process. The workshop was organized by the Watershed Management Division (WMD) of the Department of Forests and Park Services, in collaboration with the UN-REDD Programme.

The report describes how workshop participants identified benefits and risks of Bhutan’s potential REDD+ actions in the context of the Cancun safeguards and assessed how Bhutan's existing PLRs already address the benefits and risks of these potential REDD+ actions. Participants also identified gaps in the PLR framework in relation to the Cancun safeguards and considered measures to mitigate risks and enhance benefits. The workshop also recommended next steps in developing a country approach to safeguards and presented results from the workshop to a broader group of stakeholders, including members of the other technical working groups.