As one amongst few countries with largest forest coverage, Indonesia puts a lot of hopes of benefitting from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradatoin (REDD) Implementation, a program strongly believed as incentive for forest protection in developing countries. Yet, like many programs in the past, some doubt that REDD will be smoothly implemented.
This paper tries to revisit some of the major obstacles put forward by scholars and practitioners. These include the issue of leakage and land tenure insecurity, as well as the issue of carbon pricing which are crucial in determining whether or not incentive offered by REDD is more attractive than incentives to deforest.
A discussion about factors that contribute to leakage and land tenure insecurity is then followed by a simple calculation to predict whether price of carbon credit per hectare offered at REDD Project in Ulumasen Forest is much more interesting than revenue obtained from logging that one hectare. This calculation indicated that the incentive to forest logging surpassed the incentive to conserve as a result of carbon credit. It is recommended that careful and transparent feasibility study prior to REDD implementation to avoid its inevitable marginalizing impacts particularly for forest-dependent people.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Methodology
2.1. The Research Methodology: the Thematic Analysis
2.2. Data Collection Method and Analysis
III. Revisiting Issues of REDD Implementation
3.1. The ‘Leakage’ Issue
3.1.1 The macro-effect of forest and land-use policies
3.1.2. Commercialization of agro-industrial monoculture products
3.1.3. Unpredictable Impact of Traditional Use of Fire
3.1.4. Perverse Right to Deforest and Misuse of PES Funds
3.1.5. Determining the Right Beneficiaries
3.1.6. Efficient and Fair Payment Distribution Mechanism
3.2. Land Tenure Insecurity Issue
3.3. Carbon Credit Pricing Issue
IV. Conclusion and Recommendation
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This paper examines the fundamental constraints hindering the effective implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in Indonesia, specifically focusing on whether the offered incentives can competitively offset the economic benefits of deforestation.
- The impact of "leakage" in forest mitigation projects.
- Challenges associated with land tenure insecurity and property rights.
- The economic viability of carbon credit pricing versus logging revenue.
- Institutional and political impediments to fair benefit distribution mechanisms.
- The influence of agro-industrial expansion on forest conservation efforts.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.4. Perverse Right to Deforest and Misuse of PES Funds
Another example of leakage is exemplified in the case of payments of environmental services (PES). The case of PES implementation in Brazil exemplified that there are pervasive issue of ‘right to deforest’ and/or the misuse of PES fund to actually fund deforestation (Fearnside, 2008). In the recent report released by Center for International Forestry Research Wunder (2008) describes that:
“…a farm-level payment for environmental services (PES) programme may reward the landowner for not deforesting the PES-enrolled forest plot A during five years. However, if the owner shifted all planned deforestation from plot A to another, non PES-enrolled plot B, mitigation would be entirely offset by leakage or ‘displacement of emissions’, as the phenomenon is called in the Bali Action Plan (Thirteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties-COP 13). If the landowner further used all PES funds to buy chainsaws to enable additional clearing and cattle to graze on the land, medium-run leakage may well exceed 100 percent of mitigation - implying leakage also has a time dimension, depending on how quickly economic and biophysical processes work. Conversely, if the landowner invested the money in ecotourism or agroforestry and stopped all clearing, leakage would be reversed, crowding in off-site mitigation gains beyond target plot A.” (p.66)
This implies that a country may face the risk of losing most of its forests unless it is able to pay every square meter of existing forest. In the case of Leuser National Park, for example, Baukering et al (2006) calculates that environmental services provided would be around US$316 million/year and this is more or less PES incentives that the government have to provide to guarantee that the forest will remain intact until the end of commitment period. Unless if the government can anticipate with ways to ensure that any kind of PES funds, include REDD funds, can be allocated properly potential forest loss due to perverse rights to deforest will still be there. This then lead to next questions as to how to determine the right
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: This chapter contextualizes REDD as an economic incentive mechanism and outlines the research objective to address the fundamental constraints to its effective implementation in Indonesia.
II. Methodology: This section details the use of thematic analysis as a qualitative approach to examine existing scholarly publications, government regulations, and reports.
III. Revisiting Issues of REDD Implementation: This central chapter evaluates critical barriers, including carbon leakage, land tenure insecurity, and the economic challenges of carbon credit pricing in the Indonesian context.
IV. Conclusion and Recommendation: The final chapter summarizes that REDD requires careful, transparent feasibility studies and that underlying causes of deforestation must be addressed for the program to be a genuine conservation tool.
Keywords
REDD, Indonesia, Forest Conservation, Carbon Credit, Carbon Pricing, Leakage, Land Tenure, Deforestation, PES, Agro-industry, Ulumasen Forest, Benefit Distribution, Forest Governance, Economic Incentives, Sustainability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper evaluates the potential obstacles to the successful implementation of the REDD program in Indonesia, questioning whether carbon credits provide sufficient economic incentives compared to the profits gained from forest exploitation.
What are the primary thematic areas explored?
The study focuses on the concepts of carbon leakage, land tenure insecurity, the challenges of determining appropriate beneficiaries, and the economic viability of carbon credit pricing.
What is the main research objective?
The primary goal is to inform the government about fundamental structural constraints that must be addressed to ensure REDD can effectively promote forest sustainability rather than acting as a disincentive.
Which research methodology does the author employ?
The author utilizes thematic analysis, a qualitative research method that involves identifying and reporting patterns within secondary data, including scholarly articles, government reports, and policy documents.
What does the main body of the work address?
The main body discusses the "leakage" issue, the influence of macro-economic policies, the perverse effects of current payment distribution systems, and the economic comparison between carbon storage and timber revenue.
Which key terms describe this work?
Key terms include Carbon Credit, Carbon Pricing, REDD, Indonesia, Leakage, Land Tenure, and Forest Governance.
How does the paper specifically analyze the economic value of the Ulumasen Forest?
The paper provides a simple calculation in an appendix to compare the potential revenue from carbon credits against the financial returns obtained from sustainable logging operations in the Ulumasen forest.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding REDD in Indonesia?
The author concludes that REDD is not a panacea and warns that without addressing the root causes of deforestation, such as land insecurity and corruption, the program could lead to further marginalization of local communities.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Omar Pidani (Autor:in), 2008, Revisiting Constraints: Towards Cautious Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Implementation in Indonesia, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/337001
