Deforestation and forest degradation, caused by agricultural expansion, logging, and other human activities, contribute around 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a mechanism aimed at creating a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Forests play a central role in the global carbon balance, but they also provide a multitude of other services alongside carbon storage. Forests contain over two-thirds of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, and are a source of vital ecosystem services which provide people with food, water, fuel wood and regulatory services such as climate and flood regulation. But there is insufficient awareness of the potential of REDD+, and countries often lack the tools to implement it in ways that deliver all these forest benefits.
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