Chile launches Co-benefits system for its national strategy

Blog | Fri, 18 Sep, 2020 · 6 min read

Recovery of ecological processes through the restoration of the forest stratum in areas affected and abandoned beavers (Castor canadensis Kuhl) in Tierra del Fuego, financed by the UN-REDD National Programme, Magallanes Region, Chile

The Co-benefits System (SCB) of the National Strategy for Climate Change and Vegetation Resources (ENCCRV, Chile’s REDD+ National Strategy), led by the National Forest Service (CONAF) has launched with the financial support of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the UN-REDD Programme. This innovative system – the first of its kind associated with a REDD+ strategy - aims to estimate the impact of eight ENCCRV actions on six different social and environmental co-benefits throughout the country. The system presents data on national, local and watershed scales.

Co-benefits in this REDD+ context in Chile are defined as the different ecosystem services that can be obtained through the implementation of the ENCCRV. These include improvements in local livelihoods and the conservation of biodiversity, water resources and soil, among other aspects. The SCB is part of the ENCCRV's Measurement and Monitoring System (SMM), which is used for measuring, reporting and generating essential inputs to verify the impact of the increase or improvement of forests during the implementation phase of the ENCCRV.

Figure 1. Environmental and socio-economic co-benefits — ***Figure 1.*** *Environmental and socio-economic co-benefits*

The spatial visualization of the results in the SCB was built with the H3 system grid, a multi-precision, geospatial, hierarchical indexing library summarized in hexagonal mosaics. This allows for a unique and unrepeatable spatial and scalable identifier, as well as a higher speed in the calculation for each indicator. For the visualization on a national scale, a hexagon size H6 was used, corresponding to 3164 ha. and for the farm scale H11, 0.2 hectares.

Figure 2. Results of the calculation of national-scale indicators

At the local predial (farm) level, the system works by incorporating polygons that correspond to the property, and to the interventions that will take place there. Each intervention polygon corresponds to one of the following ENCCRV actions:

Afforestation and revegetation
Strengthening institutional ecological restoration
Preventive forestry with emphasis on the rural-urban interface
Forest management
Strengthening timber energy
Silvo-agricultural and livestock management in priority sites
Management alternatives for the use of agricultural and forestry waste

The system’s local scale analysis allows changes in vegetation cover, as well as in the employment and income of the people who benefit from the ENCCRV actions, to be monitored over time. The reports generated allow the results to be consolidated at different territorial or administrative scales.

Figure 3. Example of a project at the local scale where the 6 indicators can be visualized; the image shows soil loss. — ***Figure 3.*** *Example of a project at the local scale where the 6 indicators can be visualized; the image shows soil loss.*

The SCB will help to support the implementation of ENCCRV projects, in line with the objectives of REDD+. The system will increase transparency in the estimation of the co-benefits generated by ENCCRV interventions carried out on the ground, monitoring the impacts of the activities over time, and facilitating the work of CONAF professionals.

The future challenges of the system are linked to ensuring usage of the SCB when implementing projects, and identifying possible improvements to the system to facilitate and streamline the work of professionals responsible for the implementation of REDD+.