The primary objective of the international initiative, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), is to conserve carbon by protecting forests and/or planting trees. The World Bank's Forest Partnership Carbon Facility (FPCF) introduced the REDD+ program to Costa Rica in 2008 and consultation with key stakeholders has been ongoing since. The major participants involved in the program include small landowners, representatives of the timber industry, and indigenous nations. Notwithstanding some native groups' opposition to and misunderstanding of the REDD+ program, the Costa Rican government signed an agreement with the World Bank (WB) in 2013 guaranteeing the sale of up to $63 million in carbon credits through the REDD+ program (World Bank, 2013). The government of Costa Rica has plans to continue implementing the initiative, despite the intense opposition of a number of Bribris, an indigenous group located in Talamanca in the eastern portion of the country near the border with Panama. The Bribri are also the largest native population in Costa Rica. This inquiry samples indigenous peoples' perspectives, specifically the Bribris from Talamanca and the Ngäbes from Abrojos Montezuma, concerning key elements of the REDD+ program to understand more fully why they perceive the program the way they do. The principal findings of this study concerning those views include the following: the government has violated indigenous people's rights throughout the REDD+ implementation process, many interview respondents remarked that they lacked information about REDD+, feared privatization of their land, and were opposed to the initiative's commodification of natural resources. These results illuminate key policy and implementation concerns that could inform government and World Bank policy, while also providing study participants an opportunity to exercise individual agency concerning the topic. This research contributes to the growing body of literature about REDD+ by providing the first-hand perceptions of members of Costa Rican indigenous communities of the initiative and their stated reasons for those views. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning / The main goal of the international initiative, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), is to conserve carbon by protecting forests and/or planting trees. The World Bank’s Forest Partnership Carbon Facility (FPCF) introduced the REDD+ program to Costa Rica in 2008 and has engaged in a process of consultation and information sessions with small landowners and representatives of the timber industry and indigenous nations. The Costa Rican government signed an agreement with the World Bank (WB) in 2013 guaranteeing the sale of up to $63 million in carbon credits via the program and the government appears to be relying on indigenous peoples’ land because indigenous territories comprise some 20% of the country’s forested lands (Government of Costa Rica, 2015; World Bank, 2013). Moreover, some native groups, including the Bribris, the largest indigenous group in the nation, located in Talamanca in the eastern portion of the country near the border with Panama, have publicly opposed doing so (World Bank, 2013). This study explored indigenous peoples’ perspectives, specifically the Bribris from Talamanca and the Ngäbes from Abrojos Montezuma, concerning key elements of the REDD+ program to understand better why they perceive the program as they do. Key findings from those interviews include the fact that the government has violated indigenous people’s rights throughout the REDD+ implementation process and that many native residents lacked information about the program and feared privatization of their land. In addition, many of those interviewed were opposed to the initiative’s basic premise; the commodification of natural resources. These results highlight key REDD+ policy design and implementation concerns in Costa Rica that could inform both government and World Bank policy in that nation. More generally, this research contributes to a growing body of literature concerning REDD+ and indigenous peoples. The findings offered here may now be compared to those of other analyses investigating the purport of this initiative from the vantage point of native peoples of other developing nations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/83931 |
| Date | 11 July 2018 |
| Creators | Olberding, Elizabeth Claire |
| Contributors | Urban Affairs and Planning, Stephenson, Max O. Jr., Schenk, Todd, Copeland, Nicholas M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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