Will funding to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and (forest) Degradation (REDD+) stop conversion of peat swamps to oil palm in orangutan habitat in Tripa in Aceh, Indonesia?

Abstract

Tripa is the last remaining peat-swamp forest that harbours a potentially viable Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) sub-population in a formally but not effectively protected area. It appears to be a simple showcase where current efforts to financially support reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) converge with biodiversity and social co-benefits. In practice, however, situation is more complex. REDD+ efforts interact with global palm oil trade and regulatory approaches (the moratorium) to achieve national goals for emissions reduction under umbrella of nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMA). To contextualize this debate, we assessed (i) land-use history and formal basis of palm-oil companies' rights; (ii) carbon (C) stocks, historical emission levels and potential emissions that can be avoided; (iii) economic benefits of land-use options and opportunity costs of avoiding emissions; (iv) biodiversity and environmental services; and (v) alternative options for "high C stock development" and employment generation. Natural forest cover declined (54 % in 1995, 18 % in 2009) . While 41 % of these emissions yield less than American Dollar (USD) 5 of current economic benefits per Mg CO 2 e emitted and might be compensated by REDD+, nearly all new emissions derive from a breach of existing laws, regulations and voluntary palm-oil standards. Substantial investment in alternative employment is needed, rather than carbon payments per se, to support livelihoods in a low carbon emissions economy.

Methods for Measuring Greenhouse Gas Balances and Evaluating Mitigation Options in Smallholder Agriculture

“…An example of a tiered approach in which researchers move from quick initial data analyses to more complex, data demanding, modelling exercises is the fourstep approach used by Van Noordwijk and his team at ICRAF (Meine van Noordwijk, personal communication; see also Tata et al 2014 for the fi rst three steps; Villamor et al 2014 for an agent-based modelling approach). Step one is the collection of system characterization data and the analysis of these data to explore whether trade-offs can be identifi ed, for example between an environmental indicator like soil carbon and the net present value of the land.…”

Infrastructure development and contested forest governance threaten the Leuser Ecosystem, Indonesia

“…The Singkil peat swamp and surrounds are increasingly host to oil palm and nonforest designations, such that roads and agriculture separate extensive peat forests from the greater Leuser area. The Tripa swamp and surrounds have largely been converted to oil palm and zoned as non-forest (Tata et al, 2014), but isolated primary peat forests and orangutans remain. The production forests of East Aceh, Aceh Tamiang and North Sumatra are widely fragmented by oil palm and small-scale agriculture.…”

“…1). The Leuser Ecosystem is subject to infrastructure development plans contested amongst central and regional governments while, in its most afflicted areas at least, nearly all forest destruction derives from breaches of environmental and planning laws (Tata et al, 2014). Here we assess current threats to the Leuser Ecosystem and highlight the governance challenges that play a pivotal role in its future.…”

Climate Change: Agricultural Mitigation

“…Peatland agroforestry options exist (Tata et al, 2013;Mulia et al, 2013) and are worthy of further exploration. Banning the use of fire in peatland clearing is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce emissions, but a reorientation of agricultural intensification to mineral soils is highly desirable in a mitigation context.…”