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  The OECD has just released a report on Promoting Biodiversity Co-Benefits in REDD.   Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in developing countries is a new financial mechanism being proposed under the UNFCCC to help mitigate climate change, and can also provide biodiversity co-benefits. This report examines REDD design elements with possible implications for biodiversity, how biodiversity co-benefits in REDD can be promoted and maximised at the implementation level, and highlights how additional biodiversity incentives can be layered with REDD to target biodiversity benefits directly.   This report builds on an OECD workshop on "Incentives to Capture the Carbon and Biodiversity Benefits for Reducing Deforestation: Linkages, Synergies and Limitations" held on March 26, 2008.  

When planning efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, the benefits could be increased by taking account of the distribution not only of carbon, but of other ecosystem services such as biodiversity or non-timber forest products. Here, we map the distribution of carbon stocks in relation to the distribution of these possible co-benefits ofREDD. Other relevant factors such as protected area distribution and fire occurrence are also compared with carbon stocks. A new map of carbon in Tanzania’s ecosystems has been produced for this analysis.

When planning efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, the benefits could be increased by taking account of the distribution not only of carbon, but of other ecosystem services such as biodiversity or non-timber forest products. Here, we map the distribution of carbon stocks in relation to the distribution of these possible co-benefits ofREDD. Other relevant factors such as protected area distribution and fire occurrence are also compared with carbon stocks. A new map of carbon in Tanzania’s ecosystems has been produced for this analysis.

 Peter Holmgren presentation to Global Witness side event in Copenhagen 10 December 2009