Report of National workshop on Protocol Development for Sustainable Governance of NTFP Resources
 
 
 
REDD Governance
 
Scientists around the globe are unanimous in their opinion that climate change is well and truly upon us. It has manifested itself in various ways - increasing global temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, decreasing snow cover and melting glaciers, warming of poles and loss of sea ice, warming and acidification of ocean, changes in ecosystem etc. Various reports have suggested that global temperature has increased by 0.74° C since 1850. Eleven of the last 12 years have been the warmest on record since 1850. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion and melting glaciers and ice caps. On an average, sea level has risen by 17cm globally in the twentieth century and may rise by as much as 28-51 cm by 2010. The most important reason for changes in the climate is the Green House effect1 . While Green House Gases (GHG) are necessary to maintain the earth's climate, the burning of fossil fuels and destruction of forests over the last 200 years or so have resulted in a significant increase in the concentration of these gases. As the concentration of these gases continues to increase in the atmosphere, the earth's temperature rapidly climbs. Today, the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere has reached 415 ppm and is rising at the rate of about 2 ppm per year. It is this increasing concentration of GHG in the atmosphere that causes global warming. There is an urgent need to reduce the amount of GHG in the atmosphere.