13 January 2017, Bhaktapur

CEmSoJ organized a two-day “Dialogue Seminar on Ensuring Communities’ Rights in Nepal’s REDD+ Process in Nepal” in Bhaktapur on 12-13 January 2017 so as to enhance the awareness of the concerned stakeholders and share knowledge among them on the concept of REDD+ and associated practices and impacts.

More than 45 representatives of various stakeholder organizations, including Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), National Indigenous Women’s Federation (NIWF), Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), Nepal Bar Association (NBA) and environmental lawyers’ groups as well as REDD+ Implementation Center of the Government of Nepal attended the seminar.

Participants of the seminar discussed practices and impacts of implementation of the concept of REDD+ in global context and the current situation of REDD+ implementation in Nepal in the context of the writ petition CEmSoJ had filed in Nepal’s Supreme Court last year for strong safeguards for the rights of indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities as per international legal standards for designing and implementing REDD+ in Nepal.

The participants identified the need to undertake greater awareness raising on REDD+ particularly at the community levels, stronger advocacy and litigation for legal reforms to make Nepal’s relevant laws at par international human rights standards including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and put greater attention to specific impacts on indigenous women due to climate change and proposed solutions therefor, among others at the conclusion of the seminar.

Climate Change Adaptation Expert Shree Kumar Maharjan, CEmSoJ Chairperson Prabindra Shakya, National Coordinator of NEFIN Climate Change and REDD Partnership Programme Tunga Bhadra Rai, Under Secretary of REDD+ Implementation Center Dr. Mohan Prasad Poudel and Advocate Dil Raj Khanal of FECOFUN delivered paper or presentations on REDD+ Practices and Impacts, Writ Petition filed in Nepal, Climate Change and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, REDD+ Implementation in Nepal and Framework for Carbon Trade in Nepal during the seminar. Kathmandu University School of Law Prof. Prakash KC and Senior Advocate Dr. Chandra Kant Gyawali facilitated and reported on the sessions of the seminar.