Safeguards can be considered as the rules of REDD+. They ensure long-term sustainability of REDD+ actions by promoting social and environmental benefits and avoiding harm.

The development of Suriname’s Safeguards Information System (SIS) included many work steps, some of which are analytical, others participatory: According to UNFCCC a country’s SIS should inform about (a) how safeguards are addressed by existing policies, laws and regulations (PLRs) and (b) how safeguards are respected in practice. Information on part (a) can be gained from an analysis of existing PLRs against all aspects of importance under the safeguards (see full analysis here ). Identifying and gathering information for part (b) benefits greatly from the input of all relevant REDD+ rights- and stakeholders.

For example, an important step in the development of a country’s SIS is to clarify what the UNFCCC Cancun Safeguards really mean for the country. For Suriname, this interpretation of safeguards was done in a participatory manner, through

• Group work at a national level workshop;
• Discussions with the SIS Counterpart Group; and
• Insights gained in community consultations.

The final interpretation of each safeguard can be downloaded from here (to be uploaded).

This interpretation was then used to identify information and indicators that show how safeguards are respected at national and project level. The full list of indicators can be downloaded from here (to be uploaded).

The SIS portal presents all information that is currently available on how safeguards are addressed and on how they are respected at national and project level. However for the project level information is still scarce. This will change when demonstration activities start or Suriname enters the REDD+ Results-Based-Payments phase. The SIS is thus not static but will continue to evolve.

For detailed information about the development and content of Suriname’s SIS, please see the SIS report (to be uploaded).