Developing Strategies for Communication, Partnership, and Monitoring for REDD+ Himalaya, 21–28 September 2015; Workshop Report

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) started to engage in community carbon forestry in India and Nepal in 2003 and later implemented an REDD+ project in Nepal from 2009–2013. It also contributed to the capacity building of REDD+ stakeholders in Pakistan in 2012–2013. Based on these experiences and the growing interest of ICIMOD’s regional member countries, ICIMOD launched its Regional REDD+ Initiative in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan in 2013 to support the ongoing REDD+ readiness efforts in these countries.

The REDD+ Himalaya, has already conducted planning meetings and consultative workshops with stakeholders in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and Nepal to assess the country specific requirements in terms of REDD+ readiness and, accordingly, to plan activities jointly with partners to support and contribute to each country’s REDD+ readiness. At the regional level, there is a need to bring together the partners to establish a learning platform. Such a platform will foster regional cooperation in REDD and assist in developing a common understanding of REDD+ in the region.

The workshop brought together implementing partners from all four participating countries to:

• Formally launch the REDD+ Himalaya programme
• Create a common vision and understanding on the regional partnership
• Endorse the knowledge management and communication strategy
• Draft a monitoring and evaluation framework for REDD+ Himalaya
• Facilitate partner countries to develop their respective work plans for 2016

The workshop participants included representatives of ICIMOD and GIZ and the government representatives of the four partner countries, as follows:

• Bhutan: Department of Forest and Park Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests
• India: Ministry of Environment and Forests, represented by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE)
• Myanmar: Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry
• Nepal: Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, REDD Implementation Centre