General

Central America is the tropical region most severely affected by climate change worldwide. Soil degradation, forest loss and monocultures make it even more vulnerable to climate change. Regional efforts to harmonise climate protection activities and biodiversity goals have so far been unsuccessful. The project will create carbon sinks through forest landscape restoration (FLR) and establish these across the entire region. FLR is seen here as an approach that treats the entire landscape as a whole. The objective of the project is to restore forest resources in a way that is appropriate to the landscape as part of REDD+ in Central America. Therefore, in supporting measures for preserving landscapes (e.g. compensation mechanisms), the different types of use that lead to increased carbon storage must be taken into account and the various user groups (small-scale forest owners) must be involved in designing the mechanisms. The lessons learned, especially with regard to the negotiation process and the implementation of compensation mechanisms related to FLR, will be fed into the international discussion on climate change, particularly into dialogue on REDD+.