GIS training materials and tools have been developed for use in planning REDD+ activities that deliver multiple benefits. These resources are designed to assist technical staff to undertake spatial analysis to identify areas suitable for specific REDD+ policies and measures, and which are likely to yield multiple benefits. Materials have been developed for both QGIS (open-source) and ArcGIS software, according to the needs of individual partner countries. The materials continue to be developed and tested with country partners, with tutorials shared in different languages as available. 

The latest addition to this series is new guidance document that  incorporates knowledge gained from working with over 20 developing countries to build capacity and analysing where REDD+ actions could result in non-carbon benefits:

How to Present Complex Data on Maps and other Visuals for Effective Policy Communication: Using visual tools and spatial information to support decisions for REDD+ implementation. Low Res (English)  High Res (English)

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This article provides links to step-by-step tutorials for QGIS and ArcGIS, and an ArcGIS toolbox and manual.  Map-based resources and outputs produced by or with individual partner countries can be found on the Multiple Benefits Country Resources Hub. 

The UN-REDD Programme has launched a new GIS toolbox to assist in mapping the potential for multiple benefits from REDD+, together with detailed guidance on identifying, mapping and understanding the spatial relationship between ecosystem carbon stocks, other ecosystem services, biodiversity, land-use and pressures on natural resources.

The outputs of such work can support REDD+ decision-making on the location of REDD+ activities, in that they:

• Can be adapted to specific national priorities and needs for information;
• Provide a relatively quick-to-produce snapshot (rapid assessment) of the distribution of carbon stocks based on best available data (not a basis for carbon MRV);
• Illustrate where REDD+ could secure biodiversity and other ecosystem services (ecosystem-based multiple benefits) in addition to maintaining carbon stocks;
• Present the distribution of carbon stocks in relation to land-use plans and management units (such as protected areas) that countries may wish to consider when planning for REDD+;
• Highlight where areas of importance for ecosystem-based multiple benefits may be under pressure, e.g. from deforestation or oil, gas and mining activities;
• Identify areas of importance for biodiversity or ecosystem services that are unlikely to directly benefit from REDD+. As land-use change is reduced in REDD+ forests, some of these areas may come under additional risk of change;
• Assist countries in identifying what spatial distribution of REDD+ activities will help to promote and support the Cancun safeguards on natural forest and biodiversity

Download toolbox (version 1.2)
Download manual (version 1): Identifying and mapping the biodiversity and ecosystem-based multiple benefits of REDD+: A step-by-step guide.

The 10 latest documents posted about Multiple Benefits can be seen on the side bar on the right . All documents are under All Documents/Mulitple Benefits here

When REDD+ prevents the loss or degradation of forest, this will result in multiple benefits in addition to protecting or enhancing carbon stocks. These include

• ‘Ecosystem-based benefits’ such as conservation of forest biodiversity, water regulation, soil conservation, timber, forest foods and other non-timber forest products. Various factors affect the extent to which these benefits are delivered: the type, location and condition of the forest involved, which REDD+ activity is undertaken, how it is implemented, and the dependence of the local population on forest resources.
• Social benefits, such as jobs, livelihoods, land tenure clarification, income and social services, enhanced participation in decision-making and improved governance.

The UN-REDD Programme supports countries in their efforts to integrate multiple benefits into their REDD+ strategies and development plans. (see global and in countries pages).

The UN-REDD Programme is working with partners and REDD+ countries to develop tools and guidance to enhance the multiple benefits of REDD+ and reduce risks from inadequate planning and implementation. As part of this work, a set of Social and Environmental Principles and Criteria has been developed.

The Principles and Criteria are intended to contribute to the UN-REDD Programme’s developing framework for ensuring that the Programme’s activities contribute effectively to promoting social and environmental benefits and reduce any potential risk from REDD+ implementation. It is proposed that the SEPC provide a guiding framework for the UN-REDD Programme to address two specific needs:

1) Addressing social and environmental issues in UN-REDD National Programmes and other UN-REDD funded activities.

2) Supporting countries in developing national approaches to REDD+ safeguards in line with the UNFCCC.

The Social and Environmental Principles and Criteria were welcomed as a guiding framework  at the Programme’s Policy Board in March 2012.

The Principles and Criteria are coherent with and draw from the guidance provided by the Cancun agreements, and emerge from the existing rich body of knowledge and literature on safeguards, standards and certification. They consist of broad principles (overarching, fundamental, active statements) within which a list of criteria have been identified as conditions to be met by UN-REDD Programme-funded activities in order to contribute to the achievement of the Principles.

Consultative Process to Develop the Principles and Criteria and the Benefit and Risk Tool

• Public consultation process: 15 October to 20 January 2011

Please see the link on our public web site : http://www.un-redd.org/Multiple_Benefits_SEPC/tabid/54130/Default.aspx

• The first draft version of the P&C was presented at the UN-REDD Programme's sixth Policy Board meeting in March 2011. An earlier version of the social P&C had been released at the 5th Policy Board meeting, together with a social risk assessment tool (now called the Benefits and Risks Tool - BeRT).

• Following feedback by the Policy Board and a first round of experts worldwide, the SE{C (draft of 30 June) were revised and circulated in July 2011 through a vast consultation process involving Policy Board members, 46 independent experts, members of the Advisory Group on Rights, Forests and Climate Change, and selected countries through targeted facilitated consultations (including in Cambodia, DRC and Nigeria). 

• The SEPC were finalized by March 2012. The UN-REDD safeguards coordination group is now addressing ongoing work on safeguards.

The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre plays a central role in the delivery of the UN-REDD Programme work on multiple benefits, through an Internal Cooperation Agreement with DEPI. The Centre is the biodiversity assessment and biodiversity policy support arm of UNEP, and has been in operation for over 25 years. It provides objective, scientifically rigorous products and services to help decision makers recognize the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and apply this knowledge to all that they do.

For the UN-REDD programme, UNEP-WCMC is working with pilot countries on tools, guidance and analyses on ecosystem-based benefits. These benefits from REDD+ arise from the maintenance of forest ecosystems that would otherwise have been degraded or lost. Which benefits are generated and the identity of the beneficiaries will be shaped by the social and institutional context in which REDD+ is implemented. In addition to working with national REDD teams, UNEP-WCMC is collaborating with UNDP and others to address these social and institutional aspects.

Published materials on REDD+, multiple benefits and related topics may be found at the following websites:

UN-REDD Programme website on multiple benefits

Launched at CBD COP on 18 October 2010, and being maintained with new materials including links to documents hosted on this site. Please visit http://www.un-redd.org/Multiple_Benefits/tabid/1016/Default.aspx

Social and Environmental Principles and Criteria

Version 4 welcomed by Policy Board 8 in March 2012, as a guiding framework for UN-REDD work on multiple benefits. See http://www.un-redd.org/Multiple_Benefits_SEPC/tabid/54130/Default.aspx

Carbon, biodiversity & ecosystem services: exploring co-benefits

UNEP-WCMC, with support from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), launched this site in May 2010 to highlight the potential for actions on reducing emissions from land use change to secure additional important benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services (co-benefits). The website demonstrates the utility of spatial analyses to assist decision makers in identifying areas where high carbon, high biodiversity priority, and ecosystem service values overlap, which represent opportunities for securing co-benefits. It showcases recent work with in-country partners on developing such analyses and includes an interactive mapping tool that allows users to explore the spatial relationships between carbon and co-benefits.

To access the website and interactive tool, please go to www.carbon-biodiversity.net.