Indonesian officials strengthen capacity in REDD+ design and implementation
A technical course in REDD+ Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) for 30 Indonesian Government Officials took place at University of Melbourne’s Creswick Campus from 4 to 15 September 2017. The training strengthened the capacity in a range of Indonesian Government Ministries and Departments that have a role in MRV processes and REDD+ UNFCCC submissions. The curriculum for this training was built on a successful pilot masters’ level course on MRV which was carried out in late November and early December 2016 for Pacific Island countries.
The University of Melbourne Accredited Masters Course provided country participants the opportunity to work through the requirements for MRV for country participation in REDD+ under the UNFCCC in a structured and interactive way using the online REDDcompass platform. The course combined the world’s best capacity building material for REDD+ MRV compiled across the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), Silvacarbon, UN-REDD, FAO, The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the University of Melbourne. The course was financially supported by the Australian Government through the Department of the Environment and Energy and implemented by FAO and the University of Melbourne.
Key outcomes from the course are REDD+ MRV Improvement plans for Indonesia’s National Forest Monitoring System, and Forest Reference (Emission) Levels, building on existing systems and capacity in Indonesia. The country-developed improvement plans will be presented by course participants to their peers in Indonesia, for official endorsement and incorporation into government work-plans, and can help focus and guide international support to Indonesia from donors and cooperating partners supporting REDD+ MRV in Indonesia.
Participants noted that the course was very helpful in developing a roadmap in an organized manner with exposure to the tools and international guidelines for implementation of REDD+. Participants found “Redd compass to be very informative in providing an overview of REDD+ so people from different backgrounds can participate resulting in new ideas, knowledge and understanding”