As of January 1, 2010, the Packard Foundation will no longer be administering grants for the Tropical Forest Carbon subprogram. We are still committed to this initiative and will be transitioning to a new funding model. Additional details will be posted here as information becomes available. If you are a current Tropical Forest Carbon grantee and have questions, please contact Laura Sullivan (lsullivan@packard.org) starting January 1, 2010.

Subprogram Goal
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with deforestation and forest degradation, primarily in tropical forests, account for approximately 17 percent of global emissions, greater than all transportation emissions combined. Because of the scale of emissions associated with tropical deforestation, the potentially low cost of actions to slow deforestation, and the many co-benefits associated with efforts to slow deforestation, reducing emissions associated with tropical deforestation and forest degradation are a high priority to address climate change.

The goal of the tropical forest carbon strategy is to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by 2 GtCO2e per year by 2030. We seek to achieve this goal by supporting the efforts of governments and NGOs to create the technical and political conditions necessary for an effective international mechanism for "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation" (REDD) to be established through actions that also help achieve near-term reductions in deforestation.

What We Fund
The Tropical Forest Carbon subprogram supports four interrelated grant portfolios: Methodology Development and Policy Research, Design and Creation of a Post–2012 International Framework, National Capacity Development, and Learning Networks. For additional information on these strategies, please refer to our full strategy document.

1. Methodology Development and Policy Research
We support the following types of research and methodology development:

• National forest cover and forest carbon mapping
• Methodologies for reference or "baseline scenarios"
• Methodologies that account for changes in emissions associated with forest degradation
• Analysis of REDD costs, impacts of REDD programs on national and local economies, and the impact of REDD mechanisms on carbon markets
• Analysis of international REDD design options
• Policy analysis to inform national REDD strategy development

2. Design and Creation of a Post-2012 International Framework
We support research, education, outreach, and advocacy designed to inform stakeholders involved in the development of international and national climate policies.  Particularly important stakeholders include:

• Annex 1 Countries
• Indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities
• Tropical forest countries
• NGO coalitions
• Private sector

3. National Capacity Development
We support work to build national capacity to design and implement REDD strategies including:

• Technical assistance for REDD strategy design
• Technical assistance for monitoring system design and baseline calculations
• Independent monitoring and evaluation

Given the bilateral and multilateral financing that is available for national and sub-national pilot projects, we generally do not support REDD pilot projects except in exceptional circumstances. However, we do support work associated with REDD pilot projects including:

• Support for engagement of civil society organizations, NGOs, and indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities in REDD pilot projects
• Support for initial REDD pilot project design activities
• Support for testing or demonstration of innovative strategies to slow deforestation that could be scaled up as part of a national REDD strategy
  

Learning Networks
We seek to strengthen the existing informal and formal learning networks by supporting:

• Targeted learning networks to accelerate the development of solutions to specific challenges associated with REDD design and implementation
• "Linking institutions" that could serve as nodes of capacity-building and learning within priority tropical forest countries
• REDD capacity-building for decision-makers
• Donor coordination

Applying for a Grant

We are no longer accepting unsolicited letters of inquiry or proposals.  As of January 1, 2010, the Packard Foundation will no longer be administering grants for the Tropical Forest Carbon subprogram. We are still committed to this initiative and will be transitioning to a new funding model. Additional details will be posted here as information becomes available. If you are a current Tropical Forest Carbon grantee and have questions, please contact Laura Sullivan (lsullivan@packard.org) starting January 1, 2010.