ABSTRACT
Recently, the concept of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has received increasing attention from policy makers, researchers and donors. REDD primarily refers to: (a) developing mechanisms to make payments to developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (relative to a reference level); and (b) undertaking readiness activities that prepare countries for participation in the REDD mechanism (Angelsen, 2008). One of the core issues in REDD is how to create a multilevel (international, national and sub-national) “payments for environmental services” (PES) scheme (Angelsen, 2008). Although REDD is expected to play a significant role in the climate change mitigation arena, there are various complex issues related to its technical and institutional arrangements that need to be addressed. One of these major concerns is the possible detrimental impact of REDD on the poor (Angelsen, 2008; Campbell, 2009).
