When Will We Cash In on the Carbon Trade?

August 31, 2011

By Fidelis E. Satriastanti

Indonesia’s lush forests could help it turn a huge profit in carbon trading, but a lack of clear regulations means the country is not ready for this step, a senior official has warned.

Iman Santoso, the Forestry Ministry’s director general for forestry business, said much of the policy framework necessary for Indonesia to benefit from its forests’ capacity to function as a carbon sink was not yet in place.

“First, we need to have a fixed price [for carbon] so that we can benefit from a carbon-trading scheme,” he said during a recent discussion about the low-carbon economy.

“Second, we still don’t have regulations, for instance about the distribution of the money,” he said. “Who’ll get what? And how much?”

Iman added that while the Forestry Ministry had drafted several policies on the carbon trade, they were still under review because the Finance Ministry had differing opinions.

In 2009, Indonesia announced that it was the first country prepared to host pilot projects to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, or REDD schemes.

These projects involved figuring out how to calculate and distribute the payments for the carbon dioxide sequestered as a result of easing back on logging and other environmentally degrading activities.

With at least 20 REDD pilot projects in place, Indonesia is expected to generate billions of dollars from the carbon trade.

“It’s not that the carbon market isn’t filled with prospects for the future,” Iman said.

“It’s also about communicating [the benefits of the carbon trade] with other stakeholders and departments.”

Without the legal framework for carbon transactions in place, he added, it will be difficult to see any financial benefits.

He said that while current projects could move forward, it was advisable that no new agreements be signed on carbon trades.

“Carbon is not a typical [forestry] commodity, so there are lots of political and moral implications involved in setting a price for it,” he said.

Heru Prasetyo, secretary of the country’s carbon task force, said that REDD went beyond just carbon trading because it also involved preserving biodiversity, the environment and indigenous people’s rights.

“We may not be ready as yet to go into carbon [trading], but we still have the opportunity to prevent emissions and earn revenue from that,” he said.

“We’re in a phase where we’re changing our paradigm on forests from one of exploitation to preservation.”

Iman said that while in the short term, carbon trading might not seem as lucrative as palm oil production or mining — activities that would be curbed under REDD schemes — the long-term benefits were greater.

“This is especially true if we have a healthy economy,” he said. “Why would we sideline it for other investments that have worse [environmental] impacts? We might not see the benefits of carbon trading immediately, but it’s much better for the environment in the long run.”

Mubariq Ahmad, a senior adviser for climate change policy and the low-carbon economy, said the mechanisms for the carbon market would be the same as for any other commodity. Once in place, the market would be ruled by the laws of supply and demand.

“While it will be subject to market forces, we still need clear regulations in place to give investors certainty about the carbon market,” he said.

He added that the low-carbon economy was just part of a wider green economy, which aims to sustain economic growth while reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted through commercial activities.

As with markets for any other commodity, he said, the carbon market could be prone to “carbon cowboys,” or rogue brokers pretending to act on behalf of the state while offering investors a slice of the country’s carbon market.

“We need to stay alert to these operators, but we can’t worry too much about them,” he said.

Link: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/nvironment/when-will-we-cash-in-on-the-carbon-trade/462631

Macquarie and Partners Build $25 Million Partnership to Find REDD Projects

31 August 2011

Building successful carbon projects is difficult. Even if you have the on-the-ground knowledge to navigate the carbon standards and work with community partnerships, you still need the financial backing to begin the project.

A new partnership between the Macquarie Group and Fauna and Flora International (FFI) is trying to address this challenge by launching the BioCarbon Group Pte Limited to identify and fund REDD projects around the world.

“We believe this is a truly unique arrangement,” says Brer Adams, an Associate Director of Macquarie. “What makes this very different is this is a global agreement between BioCarbon and FFI. It covers all forest conservation opportunities that might suit commercial investment across FFI’s 41 countries.”

The two groups have complimentary strengths that provide a strong basis for developing successful projects. FFI brings the on-the-ground experience with a global network of projects and the ability to scope potential sites for commercially viable REDD projects, says Paul Herberston, the Environmental Markets Programme Director of FFI. He says that Macquarie has the ability to raise capital and provide legal support.

“It looked like a really nice combination of two very distinct organizations with very different approaches and outlooks, working together on a program of work that we thought was a real opportunity for moving forward with the investment of conservation in tropical forests,” says Herbertson.

Macquarie has recruited two additional investors for BioCarbon: International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Global Forestry Partners.

“One of the things we have grown to appreciate is the need for innovative partnerships which requires financial organizations, organizations with ground capability and proven conservation and community development tools and unique partnerships that up until now have not been well done” in the forest carbon sector, says David Gibson Campbell, a Senior Environment and Social Specialist at IFC.

In total $25 million has been committed to BioCarbon by these three organizations and is now available for projects. These partners are all equal shareholders who will share in the benefits.

Now that the money is there, the for-profit company and NGO partners must bring their vision together to ensure that this financing is used for the best projects.

The Beginning of Something Great
Four years ago, FFI gained some publicity for a carbon sequestration project they had completed through a partnership with Merrill Lynch. The project, which was in the Aceh region of Indonesia, was the first REDD project to be certified under the CCBA standards.

So when Macquarie became interested in exploring opportunities around REDD, they approached FFI. The two signed a three-year agreement just over three years ago.

“It was sort of a cooperative development agreement,” says Herbertson. “The idea was that we would work together and play off our strengths…to try and explore different opportunities for investment in REDD projects globally.”

The initial focus of this partnership was developing projects in Indonesia, focusing in on specific sites. Though they ran into the challenges of a changing economic and political climate, the two groups continued forward.

“FFI really saw it as an opportunity to build our own internal resources and to get areas of land under conservation management for the long-term and having that financed through innovative mechanism such as REDD,” says Herbertson.

Starting in Indonesia
During the three year agreement, a focus has been the Danau Siawan Belida REDD+ project in the Kalimantan region of Indonesia. With its wetland and peat swamp forest, the 46,000 hectare project site performs critical ecosystem services in support of the Kapuas River—a source of food and livelihood for 3.7 million people in the West Kalimantan Province.

The site is under threat from the possibility of an oil palm plantation; indeed, licenses for oil palm have already been distributed for areas bordering the site to the north, south and west. The project team has focused on reducing this threat to the site, by working closely with the impacted communities and the region’s government.

Beyond the water regulation services, this project site is biodiversity rich and includes some of the last remaining Indonesian orangutan populations. In addition, there are a number of fish and plant species—some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The project site is also a source of food and livelihood for the villages in the region. Community wellbeing is central to the project’s objectives and the team works closely with community representatives to carry out the project. Community members will be trained to participate in the carbon, biodiversity and even community monitoring.

This project is not complete; it is currently undergoing both the VCS and CCB certification processes. In fact, it continues to be a focus as Macquarie and FFI renew their partnership in the form of BioCarbon.

“Last year, we took the decision to expand our activity in REDD and to raise additional capital with a small number of investors so we could scale up our forest carbon business,” says Adams. With this in mind, they formed BioCarbon and asked FFI to be a partner, providing on-the-ground support.

Defining the Goal
Partnerships between for-profit and non-profit enterprises can be tricky because the two groups often have different goals in their work. And Macquarie does not hide its central goal.

“We will only go forward on a project if we are confident that it’s sustainable financially. For us, that means it needs to earn a commercial return,” says Adams. “That is true across all of our projects.”

In the case of BioCarbon, this has meant focusing on forest carbon projects.

“I am confident about the macro-trends in recognizing forest in future carbon and climate change agreements. In the mean time, we are seeing sufficient depth in the voluntary market to support this business,” says Adams. “We, as BioCarbon, see market links as the best way to enable sustainable finance for forests. That is certainly what the policy makers say.”

“We think this is a very exciting initiative and a very strong demonstration of how markets can invest in conservation of forests and contribute to reduce deforestation,” he adds.

IFC sees the same financial opportunity with this partnership. While they have been presented with a number of forest carbon projects, this was the first project they decided to fund. “This was the first that we thought had the right blend of financial upside and some real ground-breaking replication capability,” says Gibson Campbell.

This focus on financial return does not overshadow the ability to create forest carbon projects that benefit the environment and the communities that exist in and around the forests. “We do very much try to align the project with the investor. There is no reason why these projects can’t have the added value for FFI in terms of conserving areas of really high biodiversity value,” says Herbertson.

And if it looks like the project is missing something, the on-the-ground partners are there to ensure changes are made. FFI’s long relationship with Macquarie has made this especially possible.

“We are able to be quite transparent and open about the work that we have been doing and communicate our concerns extremely early if we are concerned about certain options,” says Herbertson.

And Herbertson sees this as an opportunity to further develop forest carbon projects. “We really see this as an innovative and exciting collaboration that is not without its challenges but the potential for creating projects that are sustainably financed over a long period,” he says.

Building Projects
Beyond the commercial viability of projects, the environmental and community benefits are central to BioCarbon’s decision to fund the project.

“We are working extremely hard to ensure that those projects are successful and that those projects really do provide and offer the biodiversity and community benefits that are promised. It’s a big promise but it’s a big opportunity,” says Herbertson.

FFI has the ability to follow-through on this promise because of its diverse background.

“FFI operates in 41 countries globally and this gives them the opportunity to come forward and recommend good quality, commercially viable REDD projects and for BioCarbon to invest in those projects,” says Adams.

Though FFI is not the only organization with projects funded by BioCarbon, they are the main implementing partner. For FFI, this includes a position on BioCarbon’s advisory board as well as FFI staff holding roles on the steering committee with BioCarbon staff.

This type of involvement is to “ensure that we are really making the best value both for BioCarbon as a business and obviously for FFI as a conservation organization wanting to have impact in managing areas of land and protected forests,” says Herberston.

BioCarbon does look to a variety of sources for viable projects. In fact, they have a number of projects in development and in the pipeline that are not directly tied to FFI. According to Adams, this expanding portfolio of projects will allow them to increase BioCarbon’s work as carbon markets develop.

Continuing to scale up projects is important for investors because it will increase the return. Without replication, according to Gibson Campbell, the cost of certifying a single project is too high. BioCarbon is an opportunity to scale-up, replicate projects and bring the transactions costs down.

With an eye on the financial viability, Macquarie develops and finances projects that take into consideration both the carbon value of the forests and the support of such a conservation project by locals. Macquarie’s own projects are developed with support from a team of forest carbon experts as well as FFI’s community-engagement expertise.

“FFI has a real strength in community-engagement and livelihood support. We look to them to undertake that community assessment in any project,” says Adams.

“The organization is really set up to do that, do it at scale, replicate it, and ensure quality result at the bottom level and some assurances to offtakers that carbon is real,” says Gibson Campbell.

This assessment comes in the form of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent model. Community support is a central-focus of FFI in all REDD projects as they have full-time community specialists on each project ensuring that the correct safeguards are in place.

“It is something that is really core to our beliefs in the way that REDD should be implemented,” says Herberston. “It is extremely important from our perspective that that engagement is done effectively, transparently and in a way that really benefits those communities and helps them understand the opportunities as well as the risks.”

Community support, which could be in the form of local communities, local landowners, concession holders or governments, is essential for projects moving forward. “That helps us to be confident about the risks and helps to minimize risks of the project,” says Adams.

“We believe that are strong supported by local communities that live within a forest or adjoining a forest or depend on a forest is very important to the long-term success of any project,” he adds.

Considering Standards
Community support and financial viability go hand-in-hand, especially when considering carbon credit verification.

“We need to be confident that in any project, there is a methodology already available or we can develop one that will meet the best standards of the day,” says Adams. “For us, that is the verified carbon standard and we also have a commitment to seek Community, Climate Biodiversity standard. We need to be confident that we have a methodology that can get us through both of those standards.”

These standards add the additional concern of biodiversity—which is an essential aspect of the FFI project model. “By properly addressing the biodiversity and community safeguards, they are actually incorporating that into their risk analysis,” says Herberston. “That is a really fundamental thing they need to get a grip of and understand if they are hoping to have these projects remain profitable in the future.”

IFC is in agreement. Though they do not endorse any specific standard, Gibson Campbell thinks that any forest carbon project needs to have a direct impact on biodiversity and local communities. “We are reasonably articulate in looking for an environment and social management system that rolls all the way through that,” he says. “I think that is very much part of the business proposition here.”

With these standards as the ultimate goal for the developing projects, the partnership seems to have a solid basis. But since it is new, the success of this partnership to achieve these standards remains to be seen.

An Example for Others
The decision to continue BioCarbon’s work after the first $25 million has been invested in forest carbon projects will be in the hands of the board. But even beyond that, the partners think that the projects and BioCarbon can serve as a model for others.

According to Gibson Campbell, replication is something IFC looks for in an investment. “What we are interested in is replication, mobility and agility,” he says. “That is what we find fascinating about this partnership; they have got a good market focus, they are credible and they have a partnership with a very solid ground capability within the conservation areas.”

“I think it’s an extremely exciting model that I hope can be a demonstration to other organizations that are thinking about this sort of approach and wondering how they can finance some of the opportunities that are available through this,” says Herbertson.

Link: http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=8516&section=news_articles&eod=1

Deforestasi Banyak Terjadi di Hutan Lindung

Sumber : Kompas – 25 Agustus 2011
Oleh Ratih P Sudarsono

Hutan tropis yang ditetapkan sebagai kawasan hutan lindung, memiliki tingkat deforestasi tahunan jauh lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan wilayah hutan yang dikelola masyarakat lokal. Hal ini memperkuat bantahan terhadap anggapan yang selama ini diyakini bahwa cara terbaik melestarikan hutan adalah dengan menjadikannya hutan lindung.

“Hasil penelitian kami menunjukkan bahwa memagari hutan dan menetapkannya sebagai hutan lindung, tidak selalu menjamin terpeliharanya tutupan hutan dalam jangka waktu lama, jika dibandingkan dengan wilayah hutan yang dikelola masyarakat lokal. Bahkan pada kenyataannya, hutan lindung lebih banyak kehilangan pohon,” kata Manuel Guariguata, Peneliti Senior di Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), sebagaimana dikutip dalam siaran pers yang dikeluarkan CIFOR, Bogor, Kamis (25/8/2011).

Dia memaparkan, beberapa studi terpisah dari berbagai wilayah hutan tropis menunjukkan bahwa pengelolaan hutan berbasis masyarakat, dapat lebih efektif daripada hutan lindung, dalam memperlambat laju deforestasi. Hasil studi masalah itu, yang dipublikasikan dalam Jurnal Forest Ecology & Management, menunjukkan bahwa temuan-temuan terdahulu tersebut dapat membentuk tren yang lebih luas.

Laporan ini juga menggarisbawahi temuan-temuan para peneliti sebelumnya yang menunjukkan bahwa otonomi yang lebih besar di tingkat lokal untuk membuat aturan, memiliki kaitan dengan pengelolaan hutan dan manfaat penghidupan yang lebih baik.

Link : http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2011/08/25/20094982/Deforestasi.Banyak.Terjadi.di.Hutan.Lindung

Report says tropical countries fail to bring social justice

August 25, 2011

Tropical countries that seek a share of billions of dollars of climate finance in return for protecting their forests risk creating strategies that fail to bring social and environmental benefits.

This is contained in a report released on Thursday by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and forwarded to the Ghana News Agency.

The report draws on the work of Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) teams in 10 countries in Africa and Asia to promote decision making about forests that is fair and sustainable.

It highlights success stories at the national level in which FGLG teams have influenced policy to promote outcomes that benefit forest-dependent communities who have been marginalised.

On the international stage the FGLG teams have focused on how their countries are preparing for REDD+, a system being developed to reward countries that maintain or increase their forest to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation.

FGLG teams in Ghana, Indonesia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Vietnam report that national plans for REDD+ could do more harm than good.

In many countries top-down, government-led plans for REDD+ have been rushed through and focus more on how to count carbon stored in trees than on how to actually implement a system that brings real benefits for communities, biodiversity and the climate.

On Ghana, the report revealed that for almost a century the timber business has been dominated by large companies who have been given concessions by the state.

It said failure of the system to allow local people to gain substantial benefits from the forest has led to a proliferation of unauthorized chainsaw operators who now account for the majority of trees felled in Ghana.

The report said many local people have decided to extract timber for their own benefits, regardless of a law which forbids it.

It said attempts to enforce the law had failed, often with loss of life in the process.

The report said some communities and chainsaw operators had recognised the problems and were taking matters into their own hands.

Some have formed the Domestic Lumber Trade Association, to press for legalisation.

With the NGO coalition ForestWatch Ghana and the government’s Forestry Commission, the Forest Governance Learning Group is working to abandon the pretence that the state could control timber trees on farmers’ lands and to explore better deals for local control of forestry.

Dr James Mayers, the Head of IIED’s Natural Resources Group and co-author of the FGLG report, said “REDD remains forestry’s best hope yet it must be built from the bottom up.”

“Strategies are difficult to turn around once they head off in the wrong direction and the costs of bad strategy for forests are extremely high,” he said.

Dr Mayers said to realise justice in the forests, policymakers must turn REDD on its head and put control of the forests into local hands.

The FGLG teams bring together representatives of communities, governments, civil society organisations, businesses and the media to influence policymaking.

FGLG teams operate in Ghana, Cameroon, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam.

GNA

Link: http://www.eturbonews.com/24825/governors-climate-forum-annual-meeting-2011-be-held-central-kali

Governors’ Climate Forum Annual Meeting 2011 to be held in central Kalimantan

August 25, 2011

Some 30 governors from various countries will gather at the Luwansa Hotel at Palangkaraya, the capital of the central Kalimantan province in Indonesia, from September 20 to 22 to attend The Governors’ Climate Forum (GCF) Annual Meeting 2011.

The Annual Meeting is a unique opportunity for information exchange and progress on the GCF’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)-related objectives. The former California governor – and one of the initiators of GCF – Arnold Schwarzenegger, is scheduled to attend the event.

The meeting will include: a high-level session attended by ministers, governors, environment secretaries, and other governmental and inter-governmental organization representatives; key updates from member states and provinces on major GCF developments including the GCF REDD+ Knowledge Database and the GCF Fund; and facilitated breakout sessions on high priority topics including alignment of national and sub-national REDD policies and environmental and social safeguards, which will result in concrete action items for the GCF moving forward.

The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF) is a unique sub-national collaboration between 15 states and provinces from the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico that seeks to integrate Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and other forest carbon activities into emerging greenhouse gas (GHG) compliance regimes in the United States and elsewhere. As such, the GCF represents an important component of broader efforts to mobilize and advance financing for REDD activities on a pay-for-performance basis; to provide recommendations for legal and regulatory design of GHG compliance markets to recognize REDD activities; to build capacity for such activities in large subnational jurisdictions in key tropical forest countries; and to develop institutions and programs for linking subnational REDD activities with ongoing national and international efforts.

The Governors’ Climate and Forests (GCF) Task Force originated in November 2008 with a meeting called the Governors’ Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles. At the meeting, the governors of the states of California, Illinois, and Wisconsin signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work with the governors of six states in Indonesia and Brazil on reducing deforestation. A press release about the MoU from the office of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California at the time, stated that “This agreement is the first state-to-state, sub-national agreement focused on reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation (REDD) programs.”

The island of Kalimantan itself counts eight large national parks, two among which are renowned orang utan reserves located in the province of Central Kalimantan. These are the Tanjung Puting National Park near Pangkalan Bun, and the Sebangau National Park, habitat to the largest community of orangutans in the wild.

How to get to Palangkaraya: please click Palangkaraya: Get There.

For more information on the Governors’ Climate Forum, visit the GCF official website: http://www.gcftaskforce.org/.

Link: http://www.eturbonews.com/24825/governors-climate-forum-annual-meeting-2011-be-held-central-kali

Prospek Tinggi, Kesiapan Pemerintah Minim

Sumber : Kompas – 24 Agustus 2011

Tidak disangsikan lagi, hutan tropis Indonesia memiliki potensi besar menyerap emisi karbon. Hal ini dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai komoditas dalam perdagangan karbon. Namun, hingga kini, pemerintah belum memiliki mekanisme dan regulasi sebagai aturan main.

Salah satu pijakan penting adalah Strategi Nasional Pengurangan Emisi Karbon dari Deforestasi dan Degradasi Hutan serta Menjaga Konservasi Hutan (Stranas REDD+).

”Draf strategi nasional baru kami luncurkan 17 Agustus 2011 dan dapat diunduh di website http://reddplus.ukp.go.id,” kata Deputi Bidang Perencanaan dan Hubungan Internasional, Unit Kerja Presiden Bidang Pengawasan dan Pengendalian Pembangunan (UKP4), Heru Prasetyo, Selasa (23/8), di Jakarta.

Saat menjadi pembicara kunci ”Journalist Class: Ekonomi Rendah Karbon” yang digelar Yayasan Perspektif Baru dan Kemitraan itu, ia mengharapkan masyarakat memberi kritik dan masukan atas draf itu. Masukan dapat dikirimkan dalam waktu 30 hari sejak draf diunggah, yaitu sampai 17 September 2011 melalui surat elektronik di serambi.stranasredd@ukp.go.id.

Beberapa hal yang diharapkan menjadi masukan adalah kelembagaan, kerangka hukum yang tumpang tindih, dan pembagian manfaat bagi masyarakat. Setelah itu, masukan menjadi pertimbangan UKP4 dalam menerbitkan Stranas REDD+.

Direktur Jenderal Bina Usaha Kehutanan, Kementerian Kehutanan, Iman Santoso mengakui, mekanisme perdagangan karbon pernah diatur dalam Peraturan Menteri Kehutanan. Namun, penerapan ditunda karena mekanismenya harus diatur oleh Kementerian Keuangan.

Cukong karbon

Iman menyatakan, Indonesia memiliki 45 persen kebutuhan pasar karbon global. ”Kita bisa jadi penentu harga, yang beredar di dunia harga karbon 10-50 dollar AS per ton,” ujarnya.

Dengan potensi besar itu, diakui bisa memicu timbulnya cukong-cukong karbon. Ini dikhawatirkan mengulang penguasaan potensi hutan masa lalu. Tahun 1967-1999, hutan dieksploitasi kayunya. Tahun 2000-an, hutan dieksploitasi untuk sawit dan tambang. ”Kalau kita tidak hati-hati bisa-bisa karbon oversupply dan dikuasai cukong-cukong karbon,” katanya.

Meskipun belum terbit mekanisme perdagangan karbon, Kementerian Kehutanan sempat memberikan izin restorasi ekosistem bagi pengusaha yang beroperasi di Jambi dan Kalimantan Selatan. Iman mengatakan, para pengusaha tidak diperbolehkan menjalin perdagangan karbon dengan siapa pun hingga diterbitkan aturan main dari Kementerian Keuangan.

Chandra Kirana dari Climate Policy Institute memaparkan, China berencana melakukan perdagangan emisi pada enam wilayahnya pada tahun 2013 dan secara nasional tahun 2015. Negeri Tirai Bambu itu menurunkan 40-45 persen emisi karbon pada tahun 2020.

Sementara itu, Amerika Serikat yang merupakan negara penghasil emisi tidak memiliki kebijakan pajak karbon. (ICH)

Kalau kita tidak hati-hati bisa-bisa karbon ”oversupply” dan dikuasai cukong-cukong karbon.Iman Santoso

Link : http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2011/08/24/04225716/prospek.tinggi.kesiapan.pemerintah.minim

Masyarakat Sekitar Hutan Jangan Termarjinalisasi Proyek

Sumber : Tribun Kalteng – 23 Agustus 2011

Diskusi publik dilakukan oleh Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) Kalimantan Tengah dan Yayasan Petak Danum, Minggu (21/8) hari ini.

Temanya relevansi proyek REDD bagi masyarakat adat /lokal di Kalimantan Tengah, sebagai upaya menyosialisasikan kepada masyarakat tentang program dan pengetahun tentang proyek perbaikan lahan gambut tersebut.

Indonesia sebagai negara yang memiliki hutan paling luas ketiga didunia berkontribusi cukup besar dalam peningkatan emisi dari deforestasi dan degradasi hutan.

Saat ini, laju deforestasi Indonesia masih di atas 1 juta hektare pertahundan tercatat sebagai salah satu laju kerusakan hutan paling besar di dunia, secara nasional, 83 emisi di Idnonesia berasal dari kerusakan hutan dan lahan gambut.

Penyelenggara, Direktur Eksekutif Yayasan Petak Danum , Muliadi dan Eksekutif Daerah Walhi Kalteng, Arie Rompas, berharap dengan adanya dialog publik tersebut, Masyarakat adat atau masyarakat lokal yang hidup disekitar hutan merupakan pemilik hak.

“Right Holder” sehingga proyek REDD tersebut seharusnya memiliki relevansi dan berkontribusi terhadap kehidupan mereka dan bukan menjadi masalahbaru bahkan alat untuk memarginalisasikan masyarakat yang hidup di sekitar hutan.

Penulis : Fathurahman
Editor : edi_nugroho
Sumber : Banjarmasin Post

Link : http://kalteng.tribunnews.com/2011/08/21/masyarakat-sekitar-hutan-jangan-termarjinalisasi-proyek

RI Committed to Realizing Post-Kyoto Protocol Climate Deal

Source : Jakarta Post – August 23, 2011
By Kerri Pandjaitan

As the Kyoto Protocol expires this 2012, nations are rushing to prepare its successor. Indonesia, the world’s second largest forest nation and a major player within the developing nations’ faction, holds a leading role in negotiations, officials and environmentalists here say. National Council for Climate Change (DPNI) chairman
Rachmat Witoelar said Indonesia is totally committed to Kyoto’s successor, whatever it may be. “Climate change is everyone’s concern. To save the earth, we have to save its people — not to rely on a high-cost mitigation program, but to provide help to the public for understanding and eventually adapting,” he said.

The introduction of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and Enhancing carbon stocks (REDD+) initiative saw the most definingelement in the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol’s successor, Rachmat said. He said any form of future agreements would be expected to incorporate the initiative despite controversial policies that deal with complex issues of human rights, finance, corruption and national sovereignty.

The countdown to the 17th Conference of Parties in Durban to be held from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, 2011, had begun with heated discussions in Bonn. The conferencewas held in preparation for Durban. Many groups, however, raised doubts about the speed of reaching an agreement to Kyoto’s successor. “As one of the largernations of the G 77, Indonesia has an important role to play in negotiations leading up to Durban,” Rachmat said.

The Bonn conference saw Indonesia and other developing nations praised for their National Economic, Environment and Development Study for Climate Change(NEEDS) report, which described adaptation and mitigation needed in each country. Indonesia has also stated the need to promote transparency in order to realize “fast track finance” that would help the world to see through long-term climate change funding.

Link : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/08/23/ri-committed-realizing-post-kyoto-protocol-climate-deal.html

International Symposium on Costs and benefits of REDD plus in Kuala Lumpur (19-20 Sept 2011)

We are pleased to invite you to an International Symposium on Costs and benefits of REDD plus : What, Who, How and When? To be held from 19-20 Sep, 2011 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It is being co-organized by Hiroshima University, the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

Background and Objectives

That humans depend on nature for their existence is an obvious fact. That in time, however, modern societies have come to act as if nature’s services could be fully substituted has also been well acknowledged. Indiscriminate use of resources and a propensity to wasteful consumption has led to the degradation of natural ecosystems that have consequently accelerated the rate of change of natural systems including climatic patterns.

Over the last few decades, there have been several global, national and local measures attempted to stem the loss of natural resources, in order to ensure sustained wellbeing across generations. Responses were geared towards mitigating impacts related to parts of an unfolding ecological crisis. One focus area has been in the context of optimizing land use and land use changes, especially in ecosystems such as tropical forests. A key challenge in getting major stakeholders to adopt some responses is to demonstrate a pecuniary benefit in such action. The idea of payment for ecosystem services, carbon offsets and trading or REDD plus underlines this need to design strategies that would help internalize various costs associated with positive acts to the environment and to actors considered stewards of the specific ecosystems – including indigenous and local communities.

What do these costs entail in the context of planning land use management decisions? Who is expected to bear them and who actually does? How are these costs defined and how do they affect the wellbeing of different stakeholders? How do they affect the integrity and resilience of ecosystems and people directly dependent on these ecosystems? Can a cost also be a benefit? What can mechanisms such as REDD plus achieve in real terms? How does it impact carbon stocks, extent and quality of biodiversity and ecosystem services and livelihood security? Have market based incentive mechanisms delivered- or do we need to think of other mechanisms (e.g. multi benefit approach together with International funding systems ) ? Is it possible to develop a regional focus in a REDD plus Programme that goes beyond national priorities and strategies?

These are some of the questions the symposium will address over two days, and several parallel sessions.

The symposium seeks

1. To Take stock of current knowledge and information on costs and benefits of REDD

2. To Provide an opportunity to deliberate on funding systems to support REDD plus that protect the ecosystem services and also secure the socio-economic well being of local communities.

Detailed programme can be viewed here: http://www.ias.unu.edu/sub_page.aspx?catID=8&ddlID=1735

To register or for queries:

The REDD Symposium Secretariat

Forest Research Institute Malaysia

52109 Kepong

Selangor, Malaysia

Phone: +60-3-6279 7180, 6279 7190

Fax: +60-3-6272 9852

E-mail: samsudinmusa@frim.gov.my; azyan@frim.gov.my

Source: iisd Mailist

REDD+, Governance, and Community Forestry

The Forest Governance Learning Group brought together 12 experts from India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam, and the UN-REDD Programme to discuss how community forestry strengths and shortcomings can influence the further development of REDD+. This booklet summarizes their responses to nine timely questions and provides recommendations for future steps.

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), REDD-Net, the Climate Development and Knowledge Network (CDKN), the Norad Grassroots Capacity Building Project for REDD+, and RECOFTC supported the workshop and booklet.

Download: http://www.recoftc.org/site/resources/REDD-Governance-and-Community-Forestry.php