Redd+ Safeguards in Indonesia

Abstract

Since REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) covers the core issues of Indonesian forestry, such as conservation, halting deforestation, and providing benefits for communities, the issue of safeguards has become central. With more than 40 REDD pilot projects and demonstration activities happening in Indonesia and the acceleration of setting up national REDD policies, safeguards cannot be ignored. They are a crucial instrument that can protect the rights and livelihoods of the communities and indigenous peoples in the forest areas and can ensure REDD schemes are useful and serve their main intended purposes. Safeguards are certainly not a panacea as forestry is not all about safeguards per se. However, they open discourse to promoting a rights-based approach in managing Indonesian forests and accelerating some programs related to halting deforestation that for years have failed to contribute significantly. Many communities that are facing REDD pilot projects are demanding respect for their rights and have an informal consensus that a rights-based approach should be the basis of REDD. REDD to some extent is bringing the international climate negotiations into the national context, especially after the Cancun Agreement clearly supported the language of safeguards for REDD. Although the term “safeguards” is unfamiliar to the Indonesian legal taxonomy, civil society sees laws, standards and practices to promote a national level of safeguards as essential to resolving forestry problems. With the involvement of civil society groups who have been pushing the Indonesian Government and donors for REDD. The country is now (during the writing of this paper) in the process of developing a REDD National Strategy. And safeguards are a part of it. But, again the question is whether the safeguards that are being developed as part of the National Strategy are sufficient and strong enough to protect the rights of the communities and the environment. How do safeguards relate to the result of international negotiations including Cancun Agreement and standards that are promoted by multilateral development banks? This paper addresses these questions by describing the current principles of safeguards promoted by Indonesian civil society organisations (CSOs) and how they influence the REDD strategy. Some safeguard principles in the draft national strategy have taken into account CSOs’ proposal on safeguards. The rights of forest peoples and protection over biodiversity are accommodated. CSOs advocated for these proposals before the Cancun Agreement was reached in 2010. However, these proposals are exactly in line with the language of Cancun. Both versions play an important role in integrating safeguards into the many levels of REDD decision making in Indonesia. At the same time, this paper also examines a link between of which safeguards have been promoted by other actors and their gaps compared with the CSOs’ proposal.