Identifying and Working with Beneficiaries When Rights Are Unclear : Insights for REDD+ Initiatives

Bruce, John

Program on Forests (PROFOR), Washington, DC

关键词: ACTIONS;    AGRICULTURE;    APPLICABLE LAW;    AUTHORITY;    BENEFIT STREAMS;   

RP-ID  :  71577

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Expert statements indicate that annuallyapproximately 20 billion dollars will be needed to prevent90 percent deforestation in tropical countries. Developmentpractitioners are eager to see the benefits from REDD plusinitiatives shared with local partners. Equally important tounderstanding how local partners might benefit are questionssuch as, who should derive benefits from REDD plusinitiatives, and how to ensure these initiatives reach theaffected households, individuals, communities, companies,and government units. Getting benefit-sharing rights isfundamental, as it will determine how REDD plus initiativesserve a broader development agenda and prevent them fromcentralizing decision making and enabling elite capture.This paper examines how to address this challenge byadopting a legal pluralism framework and discussing thepotential role of legal instruments such as contracts. Whilethe analysis focuses largely on REDD plus activities thatinvolve land, forests, and carbon sequestration, many of theprinciples suggested are applicable in a broad sense to REDDplus projects dealing with energy and other matters. Thispaper explores the substantive legal issues and proceduraloptions for identifying beneficiaries in such contexts andways of working with them despite the legal uncertainty. Itgives considerable attention to process, an approachreflecting the diversity of the situations on the ground. Toexplore these issues, the paper draws upon several relevantbodies of learning on forestry projects and programs,including the literatures on land, tree and forest tenure,legal pluralism, forest project design and implementation,the protection of indigenous peoples, and resettlementissues associated with development projects. The paper alsoexplores how contracts or agreements could be used to workwith the beneficiaries and clearly capture the differentparties' rights and responsibilities. It examinesexperiences discussed in the literature, and reviews threegood practice projects. Lessons are drawn from both thoseprojects and earlier relevant experiences.