An awareness session was held for writers by the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme on Thursday 10th September at the IUCN office in Colombo 7. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is providing support to the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme in the area of communication.

Head of IUCN Dr Ananda Mallawatantri started off the session by welcoming participants and emphasising the need to take a holistic approach to environmental protection. Thereafter, National Programme Manager of the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme Nalin Munasinghe unwrapped the concept of REDD+ in detail and introduced the REDD+ Vision for Sri Lanka, which is: “Beyond forests, sustaining life and livelihood in a greener Sri Lanka…”

Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme Chief Technical Advisor Alexis Corblin then explained the REDD+ strategy development process in Sri Lanka. Communication Officer of the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme Thilal Nanayakkara engaged the participants by presenting the communication-related objectives of the programme. A productive time of discussion took place at the end of the session, which saw participants providing feedback by sharing their views on the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme.

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries. This global programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In Sri Lanka too, these UN agencies are currently playing a crucial role in supporting the Government of Sri Lanka to develop a national REDD+ strategy through the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme, which operates within the purview of the Forest Department.

REDD+ is a global effort to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change by reducing emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation through the auspices of the UNFCC, to which Sri Lanka is a signatory. REDD+ recognises five activities that developing countries can do to earn compensation from developed countries, including: reducing emissions from deforestation; reducing emissions from forest degradation; sustainable management of forests; conservation of forest carbon stocks; and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

With over fifty countries around the world participating in this global programme, Sri Lanka is presently at the ‘readiness’ phase of its national REDD+ process.