GOFC-GOLD / World Bank FCPF training materials for REDD+ monitoring and reporting
Download a flyer summarizing our materials and outreach (published September 2017 by World Bank and GOFC-GOLD).
In memoriam: Dr. Sandra Brown (1944-2017)
Dr. Sandra Brown, author of several modules of the GOFC-GOLD World Bank training materials, died peacefully on Monday, February 13, 2017, at her home in Wales. Sandra made a significant contribution to GOFC-GOLD and played a leading role in many projects. A dedication to her can be found in recognition of her work as director of Winrock's Ecosystem Services Unit.
Objectives of training materials
To respond to the need for technical assistance and guidance for countries to develop REDD+ MRV systems, the overall aim is to provide learning and teaching material to enable countries to develop capacities and implement REDD+ monitoring and reporting. The materials were developed based on existing good practice guidance on REDD+ related forest monitoring; in particular on technical material provided in the GOFC-GOLD Sourcebook.
The materials were developed by building upon the international GOFC-GOLD expert network and have undergone an independent review process that resulted in a consolidated set of training materials that is ready for use.
Intended use and audience
The training materials are intended for different actors involved in capacity development, such as international agencies, donors, country experts, consultants and researchers and can be used in combination and complementary to available guidance documents (i.e. GOFC-GOLD Sourcebook, GFOI MGD, FCMC MRV manual). The materials are self-explanatory and can also be used by individuals who wish to learn more about a certain tropic. Materials are available in English, French, and Spanish.
Format of materials
Training materials are available as
Books of methods and procedures - specifically the REDD Sourcebook as mentioned above
Training modules
Webinars
Summaries of training and dissemination events, including webinar series
The 14 modules of the training material for REDD+ monitoring and reporting based on the GOFC-GOLD Sourcebook comprise 700 lecture slides, 28 country examples, 28 exercises, and more (support documents, notes, references).
The complete set of training modules is available here in ENGLISH, FRENCH, and SPANISH:
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank, co-developer of the modules, hosts also the training modules. Click here to visit their webpage.
You can register to the REDD Sourcebook / Training material user database to be informed on the next developments and future update of the training materials: click here to register.
For questions and feedback on the modules, please use the contact form.
Modules 2.1, 2.2, and 2.5 (EN only); and 2.4, 2.7, 2.8, and 3.3 (all languages) have been updated, April 2017 (content and typos).
Background
Policies and mechanisms for implementing REDD+ are under discussion by the UNFCCC in the process of long-term collaborative action (LCA). Among other things, the UNFCCC text, which deals with the technical issues, refers to the need to establish monitoring systems that use an appropriate combination of remote sensing and ground-based forest carbon inventory approaches with a focus on estimating anthropogenic forest-related greenhouse gas emissions by sources, removals by sinks, forest carbon stocks and forest area changes. All estimates should be transparent, consistent, as accurate as possible and should reduce uncertainties, as far as national capabilities and capacities permit. It is further indicated that these monitoring systems and their results will be open to independent review as agreed by the Conference of the Parties (COP). Currently few countries have the capacity needed for measuring, monitoring and reporting for REDD+ and many countries require serious investments in capacities development before they will be ready to fully participate in an international system that provides performance-based compensation. Any activities for developing an MRV system for REDD+ activities will need to take into account:
International requirements for MRV:
Activities should be guided by the principles and procedures for estimating and reporting carbon emissions and removals at the national level as set out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidelines and Guidance for reporting at the international level.
Countries need to track drivers of deforestation and activities affecting forest carbon and measure their impact on carbon emissions and removals as part of a national strategy and a sub-national implementation scheme. The national REDD+ implementation strategy will vary per country, as different activities have different implications for MRV.
The existing national capacity for MRV:
A roadmap for capacity development needs to be based on an assessment of the gap between the existing national forest monitoring system and the requirements of a REDD+ MRV system; and
A roadmap for capacity development needs to elaborate steps to set up an effective, efficient and sustainable institutional and implementation framework for:
measuring and monitoring at different levels,
supporting national policies and REDD+ actions,
international reporting and verification, and
linking MRV of actions and MRV of transactions.
With these requirements in mind, the key issue for the coming years in REDD monitoring is to build sustained capacities in developing countries. Such capacity building efforts are usually long-term processes that follow a set of phases and should aim to fill series of gaps (data gaps, institutional gaps, eligibility gaps, methods gaps, etc.).
Design of training materials
To make the materials useful for different levels of knowledge and capacity needs, each module includes a lecture, concrete country examples and short tutorials or exercises to respond to the broad scope of capacity needs ranging from basic knowledge on the theoretical underpinnings to sharing practical experiences and understanding implications of monitoring choices and costs.
The training modules follow the outline of the GOFC-GOLD REDD+ Sourcebook. A set of fourteen modules under three main components are available:
REDD+ background and design
REDD+ measuring and monitoring
REDD+ assessment and reporting
To make the material useful for different levels of knowledge and capacity needs, the training and learning materials for each module include three main components as shown in the table. Materials are available in English, French, and Spanish.
Type of material
Content
Format
Target users for training
Background lectures
Introducing the background, relevance of topic; and providing an overview of possible methodological options and approaches.
Self-explanatory slideshow (Powerpoint) with annotations
REDD+ national and international policy makers, project managers and technical staff
Country examples
Practical examples of successful implementation activities in developing country experiences presenting different national circumstances (i.e. low and high capacity countries, low and high deforestation rates, different drivers and different continents)
Practical exercises and short tutorials meant to reinforce the topic and/or to provide simple hands-on exercises for implementation, data processing and analysis
Martin Herold - Overall project leader
Brice Mora - Coordination and cooperation with different international experts and institutions
Erika Romijn - Coordination of the technical and organizational implementation; the design, development and dissemination of the different training materials
A number of international experts in remote sensing and carbon measurement and accounting have contributed to the development of the training materials and are thankfully acknowledged for their support (in alphabetical order by institute):
Developers
The development team included: Suvi Monni (Benviroc), Frédéric Achard, Giacomo Grassi, Andreas Langner, Jukka Miettinen, Yosio Shimabukuro (European Commission, Joint Research Center), Carlos Souza (Imazon), Luigi Boschetti (University of Idaho), Arturo Balderas Torres, Margaret Skutsch (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Martin Herold, Brice Mora, Veronique De Sy, Erika Romijn (Wageningen University), Sandra Brown, Felipe Casarim, Lara Murray (Winrock International).
Reviewers
The independent reviewers included: Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Valerio Avitabile, Veronique De Sy, Sandro Federici, Carly Green, Inge Jonckheere, Ben de Jong, Gabrielle Kissinger, Pham Manh Cuong, Ron McRoberts, Anthea Mitchel, Jim Penman, Rosa Maria Roman Cuesta, Arief Wijaya, Sylvia Wilson
Training and dissemination events
REDD+ MRV "Training the Trainers" Regional Workshop, South East Asia, Bangkok, Thailand, April 18-22, 2016
Summary of the Workshop (English)
REDD+ MRV "Training the Trainers" Regional Workshop, East Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 19-23, 2016
Summary of the Workshop (English)
REDD+ MRV "Training the Trainers" Regional Workshop, West Africa, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, February 6-10, 2017
Summary of the Workshop (French)
Webinar series 2017 REDD+ Monitoring, and Measurement, Reporting and
Verification "Training the Trainers"
This series of webinars introduces the latest tools and methodologies for REDD+ MRV, in the themes of monitoring forest area and area changes, and the associated carbon stocks and changes.
Topics and tools covered by the series: Tools to assist with data management, MRV stocktaking and involvement of communities will be covered. Remote sensing approaches for detection of deforestation, cloud computing, and accuracy assessments are also included.
Presenters: GOFC-GOLD, GFOI, UN REDD, WB FCPF, Winrock International, Wageningen University, Boston University, and UUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Participants will:
Increase their capacity for REDD+ MRV planning, analysis and reporting
Learn about the latest freely available tools and methodologies
Receive a certificate if they have participated in at least 6 of the LIVE webinars in the series (please note that certificates are not issued to those watching the recordings of the webinars)
Sponsors
World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (WB FCPF) UN-REDD
Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO/UN-REDD) REDD+ partnership Global Forest Observations
Initiative (GFOI) with funding from the Australian and Norwegian Governments
GOFC-GOLD Land Cover Office
Wageningen University (WU)
