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REDD could trigger bias in conservation funding towards carbon-rich ecosystems Rhett Butler, mongabay.com June 12, 2008
Lera Miles of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and Valerie Kapos of Cambridge University say that new emphasis on the carbon stocks of ecosystems may cause conservation funds — including those generated through REDD — to flow away from habitats that may be high in biodiversity but low in carbon density such as savannas, grasslands and wetlands. Development pressure — displaced from carbon-rich tropical forests and peatlands in high deforestation countries — would then fall disproportionately on these ecosystems and in countries who are not part of the carbon offsets scheme like those who presently have low deforestation rates. In effect, REDD could trigger a bias in conservation finance. "Land use change, mostly deforestation, accounts for 18-25% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions," said Miles. "We support the initiative to conserve forests, which will help to address this growing problem as well as maintain valuable habitats; however, we are concerned about potential unintended negative impacts on some ecosystems."
The authors suggest that a "shift in the focus of conservation investment may be needed to counteract these potential side effects of REDD," according to a statement from Cambridge. "Currently, much conservation investment is focused on species-rich tropical forests," said Kapos. "A successful REDD mechanism would direct far more funds to tropical forests than are currently available for biodiversity conservation. We suggest that in such a scenario, strategies for conservation investment will need urgent re-thinking." Lera Miles and Valerie Kapos (2008). Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation: Global Land-Use Implications. 13 JUNE 2008 VOL 320 SCIENCE
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