A United Nations program to curb deforestation and carbon emissions in Indonesia has improved forest management, but is being hampered by a “political economy based on forest destruction,” according to a New Zealand researcher. Source: Global Post
Dr Andrew McGregor, of Victoria University, had worked with a team of international experts examining the societal impacts and complications of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program, developed through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and voluntary carbon markets.
More than 50 countries were piloting REDD+ around the world with some, including Indonesia, which has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, actively generating carbon credits for voluntary markets.
“When REDD+ was first conceived it was thought to be a quick and cheap way to mitigate climate change, but this research shows mitigation is difficult, uncertain and expensive,” Mr McGregor said in a statement.
The key difficulty in Indonesia came from an existing political economy based on forest destruction.
“For example, the payments businesses get for not cutting down trees don’t match the payments they could get for selling oil palm. There are very powerful players who will lose out if they move to a REDD+ system and this has slowed program implementation,” he said.
Some indigenous groups living in their traditional areas have received greater recognition of their rights and support for their customary claims to forest and land, while communities that had migrated from other places in Indonesia might not have received the same opportunities.
“Even at the community scale we observed exclusions where existing power structures restricted who could access the benefits from some of these projects. The whole idea of equal benefit sharing, while laudable, is very fraught and difficult to achieve, ” said Mr McGregor.
Among the positive outcomes of REDD+ in Indonesia were increased transparency, enhanced recognition of indigenous land rights, a national freeze on new logging licenses and greater awareness of forest conservation.
“Forests are now more centre stage across the nation people are more aware of forest destruction taking place, and a number of initiatives have been implemented to prevent deforestation,” said Mr McGregor.
But the future of these initiatives was uncertain due to Indonesia’s recent change in government.
“It’s early stages to tell what’s happening with the new government, but there are risks that some of the structures that have been set up are now vulnerable.”
The study showed that REDD+ had improved forest governance, but should not distract from other local efforts to pursue climate mitigation.
“At the same time, we have to be improving our own societies to make them carbon neutral, because REDD+ will never offset all our emissions nor provide a quick or easy solution to climate change.”
