JORHAT, Sept 8 - A secretariat of the REDD+Working Group was established at the Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI) at Sotai here on Thursday for sharing of knowledge and information relevant for REDD+ Himalayas Project being implemented in the northeastern States, a press communique issued by RFRI said.
REDD+ refers to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries and role of conservation of forest carbon stock.
The REDD+ Working Group for North Eastern States in a meeting held at the RFRI also prepared a roadmap for implementation of REDD+ initiatives in the region, the communique stated.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has also reaffirmed the role of REDD+ action to meet climate change mitigation goals at global levels.
India is one of the partner countries for preparation of a national strategy or action plan for implementing REDD+.
REDD+ aims to assist developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conserve forest carbon stocks, sustainably manage forests and enhance forest carbon stocks, the release mentioned.
The Indian Council of Forest, Research and Environment (ICFRE), Dehradun under which RFRI operates, is an implementing agency. The ICFRE in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development has initiated a project on REDD+ Himalayas, the release stated.
Under this project, capacity-building is being focused on the northeastern States of India. The programme aims to provide assistance for developing and implementation of REDD+ actions, focusing on training, technology-sharing, and knowledge dissemination.
The expected outcome is a strategy and action plan at each level, community, sub national, State and national levels and improved understanding of scientific knowledge for precise estimation of carbon stocks.
In order to initiate and scale up REDD +actions in the northeastern States, a REDD+Working Group was formed to facilitate action in these States under the REDD+Himalayas Project.
The REDD+Working Group comprises the director of RFRI as the chairperson and a nominated scientist of RFRI as member-secretary and 13 members representing the northeastern States as well as Kolkata and the Assistant Director-General, Biodiversity and Climate Change, ICFRE, the release stated.
