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On Sept 12-14 2011, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility of the World Bank and the Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México organized a workshop in Mexico City to explore how community monitoring can link with and contribute to national systems of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) under national programs for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). Over 65 participants attended from 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America as well as from Europe, the US and Canada. The issues discussed include the reliability of data generated by communities, and the costs of local monitoring compared to monitoring done by experts. This monitoring should effectively and efficiently support the overall national REDD+ MRV effort while delivering benefits which are also of value locally. The participants also considered possibilities for community monitoring of other important variables, such as biodiversity and social impacts, particularly in the context of a growing awareness of the importance of safeguards.