Comments invited on Indonesia’s Draft National REDD+ Strategy

Over the past few weeks, a series of regional consultations have taken place on Indonesia’s National REDD+ Strategy. Meetings have taken place in Java, Lombok, Aceh, and Central Sulawesi. A meeting is currently taking place in Papua. A series of drafts of the National REDD+ Strategy have been made available in Indonesian and English. On 24 September 2010, Draft 1 Revised was released and comments can be made until 25 October 2010.

When the second draft is completed, UN-REDD and the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) will hold a “national consultation workshop in order to get additional inputs and approach a national consensus”. This workshop and a separate international consultation workshop will take place in Jakarta.

The Indonesian version of most recent Draft of the National REDD+ Strategy is available here, and the English version is available here.

The most recent Draft National REDD+ Strategy outlines the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation, as follows:

• Weak Spatial Planning

• Problem with Tenure

• Ineffective Forest Management

• Weak Governance

• Weak Law Enforcement and Basis

While it’s true that these factors contribute to the destruction of Indonesia’s forests, what’s missing from the list is the impact of two industries: the oil palm industry and the pulp and paper industry. Addressing the expansion of industrial monoculture plantations to provide raw material to feed these two industries has been, and remains, a key issue to addressing deforestation in Indonesia.

However, the Draft Strategy does recommend the “perfection of the agriculture planning, which avoids the extension at the areas with average to good forest cover as well as the protection of areas with high conservation values in the plantation area.” In theory, at least, this could perhaps prevent further destruction of Indonesia’s forests – particularly if associated with addressing the problems of tenure, ineffective forest management, weak governance and weak law enforcement.

Under a sub-heading “The cause of deforestation and forest degradation,” the Draft Strategy states that “Indigenous Communities have no Rights.” Clearly this is not true. Indonesia has even signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The statement should be re-written to state that indigenous peoples have rights but these are not recognised in Indonesia. While the recognition of this problem is to be welcomed, the solution to the problem, ensuring that indigenous peoples’ rights are recognised and respected, is not currently prioritised in the Draft Strategy.

Meanwhile, on 13 October 2010, UN-REDD announced that it was starting its provincial activities with a formal launch in Palu, Central Sulawesi. Central Sulawesi is the pilot province for the UN-REDD Indonesia programme.

UN-REDD states that,

On a provincial level, UN-REDD Indonesia will test methodologies related to Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), such as forestry inventory and satellite monitoring, establish a regional Reference Emissions Level (REL) and work on payment mechanisms and multiple benefits, which includes biodiversity, poverty alleviation and maximizing of carbon benefits.

So UN-REDD is going ahead before the National REDD+ Strategy is formulated – as are several other REDD initiatives and projects in Indonesia. The US$1 billion deal between Indonesia and Norway is mentioned only once in the Draft Strategy:

The signing of the Letter of Intent between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of Norway was an important momentum in the framework of formulating an inclusive national strategy.

How these various REDD projects are to be coordinated is not clear from the Draft Strategy. Neither is there much mention of the complexities of the carbon markets or the implications that trading the carbon stored in Indonesia’s forests and peatlands might have. The issue of who owns the carbon stored above ground in the trees and below ground in the soil or peat is crucially important for any country implementing REDD. Yet the phrase “carbon rights” does not appear in the Draft Strategy.

Below is a recent announcement from BAPPENAS and UN-REDD about the consultation process for the National REDD+ Strategy:

Indonesia Calls for Inputs into their REDD+ Strategy

18 October 2010

UN-REDD Indonesia is collaborating with the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) to conduct an inclusive multi-stakeholder consultation process that will produce Indonesia’s first National REDD+ Strategy. Bappenas and the UN-REDD Indonesia programme now invite international multi-stakeholders to give their inputs to the draft, before 25 October.

After a series of consultations for the initial drafts of the Strategy, a series of Regional Consultations is currently being held in order to ensure multi-stakeholder participation from all regions in Indonesia. After this, international multi-stakeholders can give their inputs before Bappenas and UN-REDD conduct a National Consultation workshop in order to approach a national consensus. A final document is expected to be ready by mid November. The final draft will be a ‘living’ document, meaning that new insights and inputs may be incorporated into the document as REDD+ evolves. The document will function as a guideline for the development of Sub-National REDD+ Action Plans and will be mainstreamed into the development processes. Lessons learned will be shared with other countries.

More information about the process and drafts of the Strategy are publicly available in Indonesian and in English on UN-REDD Indonesia’s website: www.un-redd.or.id. Comments and inputs to the National REDD+ Strategy can be sent to nationalstrategy @ un-redd.or.id and pungky.widiaryanto @ bappenas.go.id.