Fiji REDD+ Policy: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Fiji.

The Fiji REDD+ Policy is a national policy and its overall objective is to enhance the national forest-based carbon balance by supporting and strengthening initiatives that address the drivers of forest-based carbon emissions and encouraging the drivers of forest-based carbon sinks.
The Fiji REDD-Plus Policy will be implemented through a Fiji REDD-Plus Programme which will maximize benefits arising from carbon and climate-related financial instruments in order to: (I) assist Fiji in retaining and enhancing the carbon in its forest landscapes; and (II) assist Fiji in achieving core forest sector goals as defined in the Fiji Forest Policy, including: (i) a transition to sustainable forest management; (ii) reducing the loss of forest from the expansion of agricultural lands and other land use change; (iii) protecting indigenous forest areas of high cultural, biological diversity and ecosystem services value; (iv) increasing timber production from the plantation sector through afforestation/reforestation of non-forest lands (excluding wetlands/peatlands and indigenous palms); (v) increasing agroforestry activities on non-forest lands (excluding wetlands/peatlands and indigenous palms); and (vi) assist Fiji in achieving its strategic goals in land-based development and environmental management.
All REDD-Plus initiatives and projects in Fiji will ensure the protection of and respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples, full and effective participation of indigenous people and other relevant stakeholders, equitable distribution of benefits to rights owners, consideration of gender issues in all phases of decision-making and implementation, and protection and conservation of natural forests and their ecosystem services. The scope of national/sub-national/project scale Fiji REDD initiatives include: reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation through forest protection and improved forest management; afforestation/reforestation; forest/energy sector linkages; forest/agriculture linkages; and combination linking afforestation/reforestation with REDD. REDD+ initiatives will be open to all available financing instruments for the REDD sector from both market-based and fund-based sources. The Fiji REDD+ Programme will establish a forest carbon measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) capability in line with the latest international good practice guidelines and guidance arising from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Fiji REDD+ Programme will develop an effective educational and training strategy capable of building policy and technical capacity, and will undertake research, where necessary and with the approval of relevant authorities, to enable the achievement of its goals.