Bolivia

The Bolivian Government has been carrying out efforts to improve its policies in different sectors (such as Environment and Forestry); it has also sought to improve development strategies and plans, and regulations within the Forestry Sector. Several barriers hindering the implementation of REDD mechanisms in Bolivia have been identified. The UN-REDD National Joint Programme will support Bolivia in its efforts to overcome such obstacles and will ensure national REDD+ readiness.

In order to achieve this goal, the Programme will support capacity building at a national and local level with the purpose of achieving the following outcomes and outputs:

Outcome 1: “Improving capacity among national government institutions for implementing REDD+ activities, and monitoring and assessing carbon stock in forests”.

Output 1.1: Forest and Land Use Monitoring System

Output 1.2: Emission Benchmarks

Output 1.3: Proposal of Adjustments to the Legal and Normative Framework related to REDD+ issues

Output 1.4: System for transferring and distributing REDD+ resources

Output 1.5: A stronger Climate Change National Programme with enough resources

Output 1.6: Action Plan for Reducing Emissions from DD (REDD+ Plan)

Outcome 2: “Improving civil society’s capacity for implementing REDD+ activities”

Output 2.1: Training Programme and dissemination of REDD+ activities

Output 2.2: Programme for Social Participation in REDD+

Output 2.3: Strengthening Programme for REDD+ Management and Applied Research

Outcome 3. “Generating REDD+-related experience at a local level, with the participation of territorial bodies and the civil society”

Output 3.1: Standard Methodological Framework for implementing pilot projects.

Output 3.2: Pilot REDD+ programmes and projects

These activities will allow integrating and deploying REDD+ components in plans, programmes and budgets of the involved institutions. In parallel, relevant actors will be trained to ensure that Bolivia achieves REDD+ readiness within the established deadlines and in a sustainable manner. The future contribution of the NJP, through its components for implementing policies to fight poverty and promote human rights, is considered of particular importance. The REDD+ Programme will be included in the policies that are relevant to forest degradation and deforestation. Through all its phases, the NJP will emphasize the involvement and participation of all actors – especially forest-dependent indigenous peoples – with the aim of ensuring an adequate assimilation and sustainability of REDD+ topics and the instruments to be developed within the Programme’s framework.

Furthermore, the UN-REDD NJP includes important coordination efforts and cooperation actions for Bolivia. Such efforts for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation are being carried out with the assistance of the World Bank and the German Cooperation.

March 2010

Budget allocation approved by the Policy Board during its 4th meeting

February 2010

• UN-REDD Presentation during a CIDOB meeting in Trinidad.
• External review of the NJP UN-REDD

January 2010

On 18 January 2010 a successful validation meeting of the Bolivian UNREDD National Joint Programme was hosted by the Bolivian government. The meeting was attended by the Viceminister of Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change and Forest Development and Management Juan Pablo Ramos, the UN Resident Representative Yoriko Yasukawa and representatives of five civil society organizations  - CIDOB, CONAMAQ, CSTUBC,CSCIB, and CBMCIOB-BS-  who all signed the minutes of the meeting. The signed minutes from the meeting shows that all parties clearly support and validate the document.

This meeting followed the completion of the technical revision of the Programme Document (10 January)

Draft of the UN-REDD Bolivia Programme Document finalized

November 2009

• First draft of the UN-REDD Bolivia Programme Document prepared (11/16)
• WCMC mission to La Paz and Santa Cruz

August 2009

Second scoping/formulation mission  in La Paz and Santa Cruz (18-21/08). Main outcomes were:

• Composition of the National REDD Team
• Preparation of a workplan for the development of the UN-REDD Bolivia Programme Document, the FCPF's R-PP and a REDD component in the Strategy on Forests and Climate Change
• Confirmation of the composition of the "Grupo Impulsor" of the National Policy on Environment composed of five of the most important civil society organizations in the country, who will send representatives to participate in the validation of the UN-REDD Bolivia Programme Document
• Strenghtening of the National Programme on Climate Change that will coordinate the national working group on REDD
A full report of the mission is available here (in Spanish - English version to be provided shortly)

National REDD meeting in La Paz (4th of August) gathering several NGOs, projects, institutions and international cooperation. A presentation on UN-REDD was given.

June 2009

First scoping mission of the UN-REDD Programme regional team

• Development of a National Strategy on Forest and Climate Change with a REDD component (Vice-Ministry of Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change and forests Development and Management through the REDD national team, the FCPF, the GTZ and FkW)
• Development of the R-PP of the FCPF, by the REDD national team with the support of the FCPF consultants, the UNREDD support team, the GTZ consultant and all the actors of the technical committee: university, NGOs, technical bodies of the government).
• Coordination with the GTZ-FkW for the development and implementation of pilot projects on REDD+.
• Synergies with Denmark and Deutschland which are supporting financially the National Authority of Forest and Land.
• Synergy with the GTZ which is analyzing the political and institutional dimension in the country, on relation with REDD+.
• Synergy with UNEP-WCMC which came for a mission in Bolivia in 2009.
• Synergies with the Climate Action Plan Noel Kempff project, with FAN, CIDOB, and other actors which have been working on REDD related issues for years.