FCMC Hosts Indian Foresters to Discuss REDD+

In early December, 2013 FCMC hosted a team of officials from India’s Forest Department and Michigan State University staff to gain an understanding and discuss FCMC’s work and answer REDD+-related questions. The group was on a study tour of the United States visiting places such as NASA, University of Maryland, Michigan State University, Environmental Protection Agency/Air Resources Board and the Conservation Fund Garcia River Forest Carbon Offset Project, among many others. The tour was hosted by Tetra Tech’s Forest-PLUS program and Michigan State University.

During their meeting with FCMC, the FCMC Chief of Party gave an overview of the program and its history; the FCMC manager of communications and knowledge management discussed communications strategy and outreach; and the Forest Carbon Markets Task Lead and Measurement and Reporting and Verification Senior Analyst highlighted elements of their task-specific work. The meeting closed with an in-depth question and answer session.

Forest-PLUS is a forest management program in India funded by USAID and implemented by Tetra Tech as part of the United Nation’s REDD+ program. Tetra Tech, in cooperation with India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests’ (MOEF) and Michigan State University, is promoting an integrated and inclusive approach to forest ecosystem management and carbon sequestration—an important focus is on reference levels, economic incentives and social issues, including stakeholder engagement. Forest-PLUS and FCMC are both Tetra Tech led projects working on complementary climate and forest themes, including social and economic issues.