Can multilevel governance transform business-as-usual trajectories driving deforestation? Lessons for REDD+ and beyond.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) is an inherently multilevel process that requires collaboration across diverse levels and sectors of governance. As with other global initiatives, however, implementation of REDD+ on the ground has caused friction with actors at various levels (Sanders et al. 2017; Myers et al. 2018; Rodríguez-Ward et al. 2018). To address these concerns, CIFOR undertook research on multilevel governance and carbon management at the landscape scale. Researchers asked: How are land-use decisions made across multiple levels and sectors? How is REDD+, as an idea, or as a specific project or initiative, interacting with these political realities? And what lessons can be learned that might help improve equity and effectiveness to shift the current trajectories of land-use change?