Resource

Case Study

The evolution of Costa Rica's carbon rights

Costa Rica has a clear and coherent relationship between land, forest, environmental services (ES) and carbon rights in State and private land. However, indigenous communities require the recognition of forest rights in respect to management and alienation of forest products.

• Costa Rica has a strong and functional institutional and legal framework that supports land, forest and carbon rights. Forest law should develop in a way that is compatible with forest rights in relation to ES and carbon rights. This means that forest rights for timber should be returned to forest owners as in the case of ES and carbon rights.

• REDD+ can be an opportunity for adjusting, consolidating and improving forest and carbon governance. The Costa Rica Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) suggests clear reforms for a new generation of PES which will become global, and will require measurable products and policy impacts.

• Land, forest and carbon rights development, and legal and institutional reform are processes that take time; therefore, a REDD+ mechanism cannot expect to create accelerated changes for their implementation.

• Costa Rican indigenous communities should have the right to access not only PES, but also commercial forest harvesting of timber to achieve sustainable development based on natural resources

Photo source: Flickr. Copyright: kneague

Authors:

Guillermo Navarro

Published:

2010

Publisher:

REDD-net