A three days training workshop on Strategy and Safeguards for the REDD+ Program of Bhutan is being conducted for three days from August 2-4, 2017 in Metta Resort and Spa, Paro, Bhutan. The training workshop include participants from all the territorial forest divisions, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, Taryayana foundation and Social Forestry and Extension Division.

The training workshop has three main objectives:

1. To build awareness and capacity on REDD+ and their components under UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
2. Discuss initial proposed REDD+ Strategy options, and methods to identify their potential risks and benefits
3. Build capacity of the participants to conduct consultation workshops at district and local levels on the REDD+ Strategy options and Polices & Measures (PAMs)

The workshop is technically facilitated by Indufor, the consultancy firm hired for the development of Bhutan’s National REDD+ strategy, benefit sharing and fund mobilization and Climate, Law and Policy, the consultancy firm hired for undertaking SESA (Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment) and develop ESMF (Environmental and Social Management Framework) and SIS (Safeguard Information System) for the REDD+ Program of Bhutan.

The participants will review the proposed REDD+ strategy options and PAMs (Polices and measures) and provide suggestions or new proposals. They will also rank the proposed actions by relevance and importance according to their region. The workshop will also work on indicators for measuring the success of implementation of the PAMs, cost and agencies responsible for implementation.

Further, the workshop will also work on the methods for identifying potential negative as well as positive impacts resulting from implementation of the proposed PAMs. The identification of these potential impacts will directly contribute to the preparation of the SESA document and the ultimate development of ESMF. The SESA and ESMF will help to ensure that environmental and social issues or concerns are identified and addressed to ensure the sustainability of the national REDD+ Strategy. The preparation of SESA, ESMF and SIS will enable Bhutan to meet the multiple international safeguard requirements as outlined in the roadmap document for country approach to REDD+ safeguards in Bhutan. The SESA and ESMF will be based on Bhutan’s existing laws, regulations and institutions and will help to translate Bhutan’s existing governance framework into a format that can be communicated effectively to the international community.

The workshop participants will apply these methods when carrying out the district level consultations. The work is carried out as part of REDD+ readiness program coordinated by WMD under the DoFPS and supported by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, World Bank.