Abstract
Land tenure and tenure security are among the most important factors determining the viability and success of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives. The premise of the present paper is that territorial conflicts lead to forest loss and compromise the successful implementation of REDD+. Within this context, the main objectives of this paper are to (i) document, relying on participatory methods, the extent to which land conflicts drive deforestation and (ii) reflect on the legal context of REDD+ examining if, from an Indigenous perspective, it offers tools to resolve such conflicts. We used the Upper Bayano Watershed in eastern Panama as a case study of complex land tenure dynamics, and their effects on forest conservation in the context of REDD+. Combining a range of participatory methods including participatory mapping and forest carbon stock assessment, we estimated the consequences of land invasions on forest carbon stocks. Our analysis shows that invasions of Indigenous territories amounted to 27.6% of the total deforestation for the period of 2001–2014. The situation is of paramount concern in the Embera territory of Majé where 95.4% of total deforestation was caused by colonist invaders. Using and validating the maps made freely available by the Global Forest Change initiative of the University of Maryland, we then developed a reference level for the watershed and carried out a back of the envelop estimation of likely REDD+ revenue, showing its potential to bring much needed income to Indigenous communities striving to protect their forest estate. Our analysis of current legislation in Panama highlights confusion and important legal voids and emphasizes the strong links between land tenure, carbon ownership, and territorial invasions. The options and shortcoming of implementing REDD+ in Indigenous territories is discussed in the conclusion taking our legal review into account.
Highlights
Tenure security–defined as the certainty that a community’s land rights will be recognized and protected if challenged [1]–is one of the prevailing influences on deforestation, forest degradation and the expansion of extensive cattle ranching, which are among the primary drivers of land use change in Latin America [2,3,4]
We focus on the Upper Bayano Watershed (Fig 1) a 3,695-km2 region inhabited by Guna and Embera Indigenous peoples and colonist farmers of Latino origin that has been subject to complex land tenure dynamics [14], since 1976, when low-lying areas of eastern Panama were flooded to create the 350 km2 artificial Lake Bayano
Across Latin America Indigenous peoples own an extensive area of land [4]; 25.3% of the Amazon region is under Indigenous peoples’ custody [57] for example
Summary
Tenure security–defined as the certainty that a community’s land rights will be recognized and protected if challenged [1]–is one of the prevailing influences on deforestation, forest degradation and the expansion of extensive cattle ranching, which are among the primary drivers of land use change in Latin America [2,3,4]. Concerned that REDD+ might ignite or compound territorial conflicts between forest stewards and others (e.g. landless farmers, land speculators, loggers, and cattle ranchers) trying to gain control over land or potentially lucrative forest resources, we developed the project, “Establishing a novel intercultural partnership for REDD+” (hereafter, the Partnership Project), between 2010 and 2013 in collaboration with the Dobbo Yala Foundation, a Panama-based, non-governmental organization (NGO) comprised of Indigenous professionals (directed by co-author and lawyer, AA), which works with communities and traditional authorities in defending Indigenous rights and environmental integrity; the National Coordinating Body of Panama’s Indigenous Peoples (Coordinadora Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas de Panamá, COONAPIP in Spanish) that brings together all seven Indigenous Nations and their twelve Congresses; and Panama’s Embera and Wounaan Youth Organization (Organización de Jóvenes Emberá y Wounaan de Panamá, OJEWP in Spanish), an NGO that fights for the rights of the Emberaand Wounaan, youth, and provides technical support to traditional authorities; as well as the Center for the Study and Resolution of Conflicts in the Americas and the Caribbean (Centro de Estudios y Resolución de Conflictos de las Américas, CERCA in Spanish), an NGO that promotes alternative methods of conflict resolution in the region Through this project, we examined factors that could support ongoing conservation efforts by Indigenous peoples, while clarifying, from an Indigenous perspective, the legislative context of REDD+, with a view toward identifying perverse incentives or barriers to implementation, and tools to support action
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