Importance of education in monitoring Monitoring activities within REDD+ may not be immediately understandable to the layperson. Whilst community members may immediately understand the benefits of reducing fire incidence, reforestation or small canal blocking, they may struggle to see
the relevance of measuring tree density or peat depth. It was noted throughout activities and lessons learned of the monitoring unit that an increased understanding by the community of the relevance and importance of the monitoring activities goes a long way to
circumventing challenges. With increased village-level understanding, issues related to recruitment, the incidence of undesirable activities in the monitoring areas such as pilfering, coordination and the implementation of activities all reduced.
Data management Monitoring activities in any REDD+ project necessarily accrue large volumes of data. This data must be readily readable, sharable and ready for analysis. Managing and validating such large volumes of data is time-consuming and proper forethought to data-management and storage before the data starts to be collected ensures data integrity and verifiability in the long-term.
3.2. Summarised Recommendations
Based on the above discussion and the key lessons learned summaries presented at the end of each section in chapter two, the following overarching recommendations are made.
It is extremely valuable to have specialist teams made up of both the project and the local community members that work towards disseminating the purpose and activities of the project, including the monitoring, to the local residents. They also act as the mediators in discussions and negotiations. These teams must however a. Fully understand the principles, theory, science and objectives of the intended activities b. Negotiate fairly to achieve compromise and outcomes that meet the needs of both parties c. Set time aside for both the field teams and the community teams to ensure the work-plans and needs are fully and clearly disseminated to the community.
Opportunities to participate in monitoring teams on REDD+ programs and projects should be made available to all local residents in a fair manner. However, it is preferable that the selected teams are permanent, highly trained, and made up of the best-qualified members.
Vegetation Monitoring, Fire Management Monitoring, and Peat and Hydrology Monitoring | KFCP
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