Lessons from REDD+ are applicable across all different types of conservation interventions.

Communities want to know more about what carbon is, and why they should say yes to research.

The adaptability of mangroves will be hugely beneficial as sea levels rise - yet we know so little about these fascinating landscapes.

Scientists use local participation and knowledge to determine drivers of land use change and land cover.

CIFOR's Director General outlines five issues that can bring about the transformational change REDD+ requires.

CIFOR scientists Lou Verchot and Steve Leonard dicuss the main topics of debate in climate change policy.

Three scientists discuss the promise and complications of the landscape approach.

“There is a tremendous need to design low-cost, rigorous and sustainable strategies for MRV of REDD+ safeguards.”

In theory, the plan seemed rather simple: a financial mechanism to reduce carbon emissions by incentivizing the protection of forests. In practice, REDD+ has struggled to achieve what it aims to do—reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. As climate negotiators head to Lima for the UNFCCC COP, where does REDD+ stand now, and after nearly eight years, why is it still in most countries in the early, “readiness” stage? Politics and power struggles explain part of the problem, a leading expert says, pointing to difficulties in designing—and implementing—policies that an ever-growing number of stakeholders can agree on. “The honeymoon phase is over,” said Maria Brockhaus, a senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), in a recent interview. “You have actors that no longer happily agree on the broad idea, that strongly disagree on how to realize that idea.”

A simple device could spell relief for Ethiopia’s beleaguered forests by making cooking more efficient while reducing carbon emissions.