Community Consultations for Developing a National REDD+ Strategy

The REDD+ readiness preparation phase in Suriname fosters openness, participation and transparency, improved data collection and analysis, and national and multi-sectoral dialogue and cooperation. It is important to emphasize that the REDD+ strategy is a long term effort because it may be revised several times during the readiness process.

The development of a National REDD+ Strategy (NRS) requires broad participation of stakeholders to provide input that will eventually result in a nationally supported strategy for REDD+. It is also good practice to ensure meaningful and culturally appropriate involvement of stakeholder groups, in particular indigenous and tribal peoples.

At the end of the project it is expected that the consulting group has a clear understanding of the communities’ views for an ideal vision of the future with respect to forest use and community development. It is also expected that the consulting group has a clear overview of current, social, and environmental issues from the community’s perspective and how they think REDD+ might affect these issues.
For the communities it is important that they understand why the consultations are taking place, what the concept of REDD+ is, and that it requires balancing wise use of the forest and community development. They will be aware of the different phases and status and actors of REDD+ readiness activities in Suriname. The communities will understand what is requested from them, and that their input is crucial to help shape a national strategy that will also be beneficial to them. The communities will be informed how their input will be used for further plans, how they will be kept informed of the progress of the process, and how to get in touch in case of questions or further input.