The workshop, entitled “Estimating the Opportunity Costs of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries, Conservation, Sustainable forest management and Enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+)” is taking place 22-25 November, 2010 in Arusha, Tanzania. The target audience is senior technical experts from ministries, national research institutes and other organizations involved in the preparation, implementation, and/or discussion of national REDD+ strategies in their respective countries.

The primary goal of the training is to provide participants with tools to analyze the opportunity costs of REDD+, as an important element to feed into the development of national REDD+ strategies. Participants will be provided with practical knowledge and software to assess the opportunity costs of REDD+, stipulating the advantages and constraints of this approach.

A thorough understanding of the economics of land use and land use change is key for the success of REDD+ schemes. Policy makers as well as project developers need to understand the cost of different forms of land use that compete with REDD+.

Workshop participants come from anglophone African countries that are members of the FCPF and/or the UN-REDD Programme, namely Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia. Similar training workshops are planned in 2011 for other regions and in other languages.