What's New at Community Forestry International

Asia REDD Working Group (ARWG)

In January 2011, CFI hosted the first ARWG meeting in New Delhi, India in collaboration with TERI with funding from the Ford Foundation and DFID, India. The invitees for the first meeting came from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and representatives from the UK and the USA. For more information on this meeting, click here .

In February 2012, CFI hosted the second ARWG meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal in collaboration with RUPATARAN with funding from the Ford Foundation and DFID, India. The invitees for the second meeting came from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and representatives from the UK , France, Japan, Germany, and the USA. For a copy of the meeting report, please click here.

In January 2013, CFI hosted the 3^rd annual ARWG meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The focus of this meeting was a discussion of community-based payments for ecosystem services (PES) including REDD carbon offset credits.  The meeting was well-received and included ARWG members from India, Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, and resource people from the U.K., Sweden, Germany, and the U.S.A.  For a copy of the meeting report, click here.

Khasi Hills REDD Project, Meghalaya, Northeast India

In July 2011, CFI began designing its second REDD project. When completed, it will be India’s first REDD project. CFI has worked in Meghalaya since 2003, working to build capacity among the indigenous Khasi. For this project, nine Khasi Kingdoms formed a Federation in order to collaborate more effectively with the design and implementation of the REDD project.

CFI hopes that by early 2013, this project will be certified under the Plan Vivo, UK voluntary standard for carbon offset credits. In November, CFI produced a short marketing film in order to introduce prospective carbon brokers and buyers to the project and the Khasi.

To view this film, click on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzxYjido-oE&feature=youtu.be

Stakeholders Workshop

In June 2012, a Multi-Stakeholder Workshop was held in Bhuhaneswar, Odisha, India on Community Forestry and REDD+ for the state of Odisha. The CFI senior consultant, Mr. S. Palit, Ret. FS was in attendance and gave a presentation on behalf of CFI. The report summarizes important arguments that affect the integration of community REDD+ projects into policy in India. Click here for the full report.

CFI Executive Director Discussing Comunity Forestry

A few months ago, Mark Poffenberger, CFI Executive Director, was invited to attend the Climate and Land Alliance (CLUA) board meeting as one of the guest speakers. He was interviewed at the meeting on the issues of community forestry for a short video clip that CLUA has put out on their website. This is the first video in CLUA's Great Ideas Video series. Click here.

CFI Videographer Celebrated on International Women’s Day 2012

The Young Environmentalists Programme Trust, Mumbai, India whose slogan is “Be the change you want to see in the world,” chose Ms. Minnie Vaid for its award for Achievement in Media this year. More recently Ms. Vaid produced a book and documentary film “A Doctor to Defend,” (on Dr. Binayak Sen) and “Satyendra Dubey: The Story of a Whistle Blower.” Ms. Vaid has just completed her second on Irom Sharmila Chanu, dubbed the “Iron Lady of Manipur,” whose hunger strike begun in 2000 and continues today. Her latest project is on the Muziris Heritage, shot in Kerala and produced by Arowana Studios, Bengalaru.

For CFI, Ms. Vaid has produced “We Have a Dream” (on women's empowerment in Adilabad) and “Sacred Forests of Meghalaya: Wisdom from The Mother's Hearth” (on traditions of community forest management in NE India). Besides being an experienced filmmaker, Ms. Vaid brings a special empathy and compassion to her subject matter. CFI congratulates Ms. Vaid on this special recognition of her work and looks forward to working with her in the future.

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