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Evaluating the Potential Risks and Rewards in the Implementation of a REDD+ Policy in Uganda

In this thesis, I analyze the potential for a REDD+ program to succeed in Uganda at this time, and I explore why this may or may not be possible. REDD+, which stands for Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation, aims to enhance carbon stocks while also conserving and sustainably managing forests. In doing so, REDD+ not only works to offset carbon emission levels and conserve forests and forest biodiversity, but also provides financial benefits to REDD+ participant countries, thus improving the livelihoods of local people living adjacent to forests. This program is widely regarded as the most effective and least risky solution to deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, however, I argue that this may not be the case. Government documents reveal a rather simplistic and idealistic view of the policy, its implementation process, and desired outcomes, while specific case studies in countries outside of Uganda in which the REDD+ program has been implemented or is in the process of being implemented reveal unaddressed concerns with the mechanism itself and within the surrounding communities. Based on my research, I believe that if the recommendations that I propose are not included in the REDD+ preparation and implementation phases, the REDD+ mechanism is not only predestined to fail, but also to harm the most at-risk stakeholders that it is meant to benefit.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:CLAREMONT/oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:pitzer_theses-1046
Date01 January 2014
CreatorsSchaftel, Sage
PublisherScholarship @ Claremont
Source SetsClaremont Colleges
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourcePitzer Senior Theses
Rights© 2014 Sage Schaftel

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