Framing justice in REDD plus governance: centring transparency, equity and legitimacy in readiness implementation in West Africa

This paper investigates the dimensions of justice in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus enhancement of forest carbon stock (REDD+) in West Africa. By paying explicit attention to transparency, equity and legitimacy (TEL) in Nigeria and Ghana, the paper examines justice considerations in REDD+ implementation with a focus on tenure. We draw on analysis of policy documents and interviews with stakeholders in both countries. Our results show that commitment to the pursuit of justice in both cases is limited when examined through the elements of TEL. Efforts to recognize the tenure rights of indigenous peoples, effective representation in decision making and transparent disclosure of information to all stakeholders were limited in Ghana by the tacit evasion of tenure ambiguities, especially in the migrant-dominated REDD+ pilot areas. In Nigeria, such limits were shown in a similar evasion and in the strategic orchestration of tenure complexities evident in the changing local forest access under a protectionist regime. We argue that explicit attention to TEL as mediating dimensions of the normative elements of justice provides important insights into how environmental policy instruments such as REDD+ might both enable and disable justice for local people living around project sites.