Integrating Adaptation in REDD+ Projects – Potential Impacts and Social Return on Investment (SROI) in Sogod, Southern Leyte

Village school in Sogod. Photo by Lito Abrogar

Integrating adaptation measures for people and ecosystems in REDD+ projects can render them more sustainable, ensure the permanence of carbon and increase their overall local legitimacy. However, there has been little experience and evidence to confirm this.

Bottom-up, stakeholder-driven evaluation methods can provide preliminary indications of the potential impacts that can be generated by integrating adaptation interventions in REDD+ projects and facilitate the synergistic planning of adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework and participatory planning approaches, this research project aims to explore the costs, benefits, and overall impact of integrating community-based adaptation strategies in REDD+ target areas.

The target area for this study in the Philippines is Sogod municipality, a pilot site of the project "Climate-relevant Modernization of the National Forest Policy and Piloting of REDD Measures in the Philippines" implemented by the GIZ together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Local Government Units, and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under its International Climate Initiative.

The study is conducted by CIFOR and funded by the GIZ with a grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).