This handbook is the result of collaboration between two regional RECOFTC projects – Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+ in Asia (REDD+ Grassroots Project) and Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Region (GREEN Mekong Program).

RECOFTC' s report 'The current status of social forestry in climate change adaptation and mitigation in the ASEAN Region' offers insights on national forestry data and information on forest cover and areas managed by local people for eight ASEAN Countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, lao PDR, Malaysia,

Community forestry offers a tried and true model for approaching national Safeguard Information Systems (SIS) under REDD+. RECOFTC agrees with the global consensus that REDD+ SIS should be based upon existing, equitable and participatory systems.

There is a vast and unrecognized opportunity for community forestry to strengthen national resilience to climate change through diversifying rural livelihoods, increasing food security, leveraging social capital and knowledge, advancing disaster risk reduction and regulating microclimates.

The 19th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Warsaw, Poland, 11–22 November 2013.