Suva, Wednesday 09 March 2011
The Fiji REDD-Plus Policy will be launched by the Permanent Secretary of Fisheries and Forests on Wednesday 09 March
2011 at the Holiday Inn, Suva, Fiji. The Fiji Cabinet, on 07 December 2010, endorsed the Fiji National REDD-plus Policy.
Fiji recognises REDD-plus as an opportunity to contribute towards global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
strengthen the socio-economic status of its forest resource owners and protect its forest ecosystems. The Secretariat of
the Pacific Community (SPC)/ Deutsche Gesellschaft f?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Regional Programme Coping
with Climate Change in the Pacific Island Region is supporting Fiji in its efforts to engage in a REDD-plus carbon
financing mechanism through a REDD-readiness programme.
The policy is a first for the region and the participatory development process solicited inputs from all relevant
stakeholders. With the increasing interest in REDD-plus, the Policy is very timely as it provides a national framework
for implementation to interested REDD project developers.
Fiji has a forest cover of almost 1.1 million hectares, covering about fifty-six percent of the total land mass. Forest
clearance, largely attributed to agriculture, can be observed on parts of Fiji. The country also has large areas of
degraded and unutilised lands which has potential for reforestation and afforestation to increase carbon stock.
Scientists estimate that deforestation and forest degradation account for around 20 percent of the annual greenhouse gas
emissions that fuel climate change. REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) is an approach
aimed at reducing the 20 percent of emissions related to forests through financial incentives. Forests are generally
regarded as a source for financial and economical gain (agriculture, logging, land development etc.) and this often
takes precedence over forest conservation or sustainable management. The REDD-plus concept links financial incentives to
forest conservation, sustainable management, and enhancing and increasing carbon stocks for credits for carbon emissions
avoided and/or carbon sequestered.
Developing the Fiji REDD-Plus Policy The first draft of the policy was developed during a consultation workshop where
more than 50 stakeholders from various sectors and agencies came together to detail the country's requirements to
implement REDD-plus. An important exercise in this consultation was the identification of the drivers of deforestation
and forest degradation. The 'drivers' refer to the human causes of carbon stock change and identification is necessary
for developing an effective REDD-plus strategy and for establishing appropriate monitoring systems for these drivers. In
drafting the national REDD-plus Policy, participants defined the appropriate scope, scale, MRV approach, distribution of
benefits, institutional support, and safeguards for the implementation of REDD-plus in the country. Safeguards include
ensuring the full and effective participation of indigenous resource owners and local communities, consideration of
gender issues, and the equitable distribution of benefits.
The draft REDD-plus Policy was finalised in July 2010 after intensive consultations, including the incorporation of
relevant resolutions and recommendations from international meetings, and reviewing by international experts to ensure
alignment with international policy language and developments.
ENDS