Greening the blue Pacific: Lessons on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)

Across the Pacific, deforestation and forest degradation are driving the loss of ecosystem services. Increasing recognition of the need for mechanisms that can bridge economic development and environmental sustainability has led to the emergence of the broad concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), including Payments for Environmental Services (PES) such as ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (REDD+) of forested areas. REDD+ projects are being piloted in the region, but the scale of adoption remains limited raising doubts about whether the concept has much appeal beyond small-scale government-supported initiatives. Although a relatively simple concept, it is proving difficult to translate into an appealing practice that is widely understood and adopted by rural land managers. We conducted a review of the achievements and challenges of REDD+ projects in Melanesia while drawing on global and regional lessons. Most projects are reaping the benefits of enhanced community development, employment, capacity building, and stronger governance. Perverse incentives, lack of systematic assessments of carbon offsets, poor stakeholder engagement, insufficient feedback mechanisms, marginalisation of women, and the lack of prosperous and sustainable alternative livelihoods remain key challenges. This suggests the need for developing policy mixes, understanding the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, addressing equity concerns, strengthening tenure security, removing perverse incentives, and ensuring financially competitive conservation incentives for enhancing the appeal of REDD+ to rural communities, policymakers, and the private sector, so its reach across the Pacific can be extended.