Recent developments in international policy on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD+) open the way for crediting of carbon saved by rural communities through management of the forests in their vicinity. Since the annual changes in forest carbon stock under this kind of management are relatively small and often under the canopy, they cannot easily be assessed using remote sensing, so ground level data collection is likely to be essential in the large areas of forests that are utilized by communities for subsistence purposes.

The potential role of communities in measuring, monitoring and reporting carbon stock changes in their forests has been explicitly mentioned in UNFCCC documentation on methodology for REDD+; this book presents practical methods by which communities do this. These were developed and tested with communities in villages in Africa and Asia under a six year research programme. The reliability of the data gathered by the community is shown to be equivalent to that of professional forest inventories while the costs are much lower. Involvement of local communities in collection of this data may be the most cost-effective solution both for REDD projects and for national REDD+ programmes. Moreover, it could provide the basis for a transparent system for distribution of the financial rewards from REDD+ and the carbon market.

The book first presents the policy context, concepts, methods and general results, which include estimates of typical carbon savings and their market value. It also looks at the governance issues that may be involved and different ways in which incentive schemes might be designed to encourage communities to participate. The second half of the book is devoted to case studies from the countries involved in the research. These provide both ideas and practical experience to enable agencies to engage with local communities in order to monitor carbon stock changes.

Table of Contents:

Part I
1. Introduction
2. How Much Carbon can Community Forestry Save?
3. Experience in Community Monitoring of Natural Resources
4. The Policy Context (REDD)
5. The Data Requirements
6. Community Forest Inventories
7. The Economics of Community Forestry Carbon Inventories
8. 21st C Technology in the Hands of Village Foresters: Using Cybertracker
9. From Local to National: Nesting Community Monitored Data in a National REDD Programme.

Part II
1. Nepal - Adding Carbon to Well Established Community Forestry
2. India: Protecting Carbon in the Headwaters of the Ganges and Getting the Service Users to Pay
3. Tanzania: Upscaling Community Carbon Inventories to National Scale
4. West Africa: Carbon Savings in Dry Savanna Woodlands
5. PNG: Carbon as an Incentive to Compete with the Loggers