Programa de Carbono Forestal, Mercados y Comunidades (FCMC)

The program supports USAID's efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). FCMC has four technical areas related to REDD+ capacity building: Social and Environmental Integrity (SES); Carbon Finance and Markets (FCM); Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV); and Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS). The program also has staff dedicated to coordination and integration between the four technical areas. FCMC is collaborating with Conservation International (CI) to develop an integrated strategy for REDD+ in Peru, focusing on a bottom-up approach. CI is working with various government and non-governmental partners, including the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) and the San Martín Regional Government. The program is led by Dr. Claudio Schneider, who serves as the contact person in Peru. One of the key activities in progress is the development of a Nested System of Safeguards and REDD+ Standards (REDD+ SES). This project aims to strengthen capacities, raise awareness about safeguards and standards, support local and national discourses, identify synergies and advances in safeguard tools, and serve as a framework to guide the national discussion on safeguards and a national safeguard information system. The project is also testing a nested approach for social and environmental performance evaluation, providing information on good practices, and offering guidance. Additionally, the project is implementing a model for learning and knowledge exchange with other regions applying the nested REDD+ approach. Another activity is the Alliance for the Development of Forest Monitoring Activities in Support of the MRV System. Through collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD) and coordination with SilvaCarbon, FCMC is building capacities in the MINAM through activities related to forest monitoring. This includes the installation of a semi-automatic forest monitoring system based on satellites and the development and application of validation strategies to evaluate information generated by this and other efforts. The activity also includes the demonstration of a near-real-time alert system, which will send email notifications to local and government users about deforestation and forest fires. Finally, the activity involves strengthening fundamental monitoring capacities with selected regional governments to improve their ability to interact with the national government on potential MRV aspects. The activity has resulted in a National Deforestation Map between 2000 and 2012, which will be published soon in a report on national and sub-national deforestation rates in Peru. The demonstration of the near-real-time alert system and regional capacity-building workshops will take place throughout 2014. FCMC implements these activities to make a significant contribution to the strengthening of REDD+ capacities in Peru, while also meeting the goals of FCMC and USAID in the country. The program also aims to coordinate with other initiatives related to the REDD+ process supported by the US government, such as SilvaCarbon for MRV and the USAID Regional Long-Term Project, Amazon Andean Conservation Initiative, as well as other donors, including the Forest Carbon Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations REDD+ Program (UN-REDD) in developing countries, and other multilateral and bilateral development partners.