There is growing support from diverse land use sectors for the High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach as a practical, effective tool for breaking the link between deforestation and the production of commodities such as palm oil.
In practice, many stakeholders have raised questions about how to integrate the HCS Approach with other well established tools such as the High Conservation Value (HCV) approach, as well as procedures for ensuring Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected communities.
Recognising that each methodology has its own specific identity, lens and purpose, a technical workshop was held in Bogor, Indonesia on the 8-9th of May 2015 under the auspices of the HCS Approach Steering Group. The workshop convened a small group of experienced practitioners who implement these procedures, to build technical consensus around how they could be integrated procedurally in cases where all three are required in the same site.
The specific objectives of the workshop were:
- To reach a mutual understanding of the term ‘integration’ in this case
- To agree on the value of clear procedural guidance for integrating the processes
- To identify the overlaps, differences and synergies of each process
- To frame a draft procedure for integrating their principles and methodologies.
A range of participants attended the workshop from different backgrounds including, non-government organisations, private sector organisations, and technical assessors of HCV and HCS.
A set of draft guidance notes for consultation will be completed by August 2015.
A Summary Report of the HCS HCV and FPIC Integration Workshop is available.
Additional available documents and materials include: the Workshop Concept Note, Programme, Briefing Note , a Presentation on FPIC, and a series of graphical representations of the workshop.
