REDD Program Research Articles

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF BIODIVERSITY / ECOSYSTEMS VULNERABILITY BY CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUGGESTION A SYSTEM OF MITIGATION MEASURES FOR THEM, CASE STUDY: HANOI CITY, VIETNAM

In the paper, the authors applied the following items in order to assess the vulnerability of ecosystems / biodiversity of Hanoi city caused by climate change and to suggest a system of mitigation measures for them: 
 
 The concepts on vulnerability, resilience, exposure, sensitivity, adaptation, mitigation according to guidelines of IPCC (2007). 
 The impacts of climate change on ecosystems/biodiversity according to the results of researches of CBD experts (2009). 
 Analysis the impacts of the factors of climate change on ecosystems/biodiversity according to the principles of ecological sciences. 
 The characteristics of all 13 main ecosystems/biodiversity of Hanoi city are research results of the authors and our colleagues. 
 
 Preliminary assessment of ecosystems/biodiversity vulnerability by climate change of the 13 above main ecosystems/biodiversity of Hanoi city are: 
 
 Group of ecosystems/biodiversity with high vulnerability: urban ecosystems, rural ecosystems, agricultural ecosystems, grassland ecosystems, land ecosystems yards outside the dyke. 
 Group of ecosystems/biodiversity with middle vulnerability: nature lake ecosystems, dam ecosystems, wetland ecosystems, stream ecosystems, big river ecosystems. 
 Group of ecosystems/biodiversity with low vulnerability: cave ecosystems, forest ecosystems. 
 
 A system of 7 mitigation measures must be applied, such as: to increase the sustainability of biodiversity/ecosystems, to reduce current pressure on biodiversity/ecosystems, to enhance community awareness, to actively implement REDD program.

Flexible Options for Greenhouse Gas-Emitting Energy Producer

The reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) constitutes part of the international climate agreements and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals. This research is motivated by the risks associated with the future C O 2 price uncertainty in the context of the offsetting of carbon emissions by regulated entities. The research asked whether it is possible to reduce these financial risks. In this study, we consider the bilateral interaction of a REDD supplier and a greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting energy producer in an incomplete emission offsets market. Within this setting, we explore an innovative financial instrument—flobsion—a flexible option with benefit-sharing. For the quantitative assessment, we used a research method based on a two-stage stochastic technological portfolio optimization model established in earlier studies. First, we obtain an important result that the availability of REDD offsets does not increase the optimal emissions of the electricity producer under any future C O 2 price realization. Moreover, addressing concerns about a possible “crowding–out” effect of REDD-based offsets, we demonstrate that the emissions and offsetting cost will decrease and increase, respectively. Second, we demonstrate the flexibility of the proposed instrument by analyzing flobsion contracts with respect to the benefit-sharing ratio and strike price within the risk-adjusted supply and demand framework. Finally, we perform a sensitivity analysis with respect to C O 2 price distributions and the opportunity costs of the forest owner supplying REDD offsets. Our results show that flobsion’s flexibility has advantages compared to a standard option, which can help GHG-emitting energy producers with managing their compliance risks, while at the same time facilitating the development of REDD programs. In this study we limited our analysis to the case of the same C O 2 price distributions foreseen by both parties; the flobsion pricing under asymmetric information could be considered in the future.

Is REDD+ More of an Institutional Affair than a Market Process? The Concealed Social and Cultural Consequences of an Ongoing REDD+ Project in Kolo Hills, Tanzania

The neo-liberal rationale behind REDD programs aims to create a market for common resources, with monetary payment incentives as the most important driver for conservation initiatives. In reality, however, the chain of implementation from UN to village, encompassing numerous processes of design, planning, and practices at distinct levels and contexts, is more institutional and political than economic. This research project follows the planning and implementation process of a REDD+ project in the Kolo Hills, Tanzania. The analysis showed that the project’s main objectives were poorly understood by the men and women of the target group, who interpreted it as yet another top-down postcolonial project. The target group’s interpretations also made them act in accordance with their own cultural rationality and logic of practice and not as the donors and project implementers had assumed. The project objectives of the payment system, consciousness awareness and engagement of the target population, thus, seem to have failed, despite the donors’ and implementers’ claim of success.

The nature of carbon flux in various ecosystem types in the Biduk-Biduk Karst Region, Berau District, East Kalimantan

Biduk-Biduk Karst Region has great potential to absorb and store organic carbon in vegetation and soil as well as to absorb inorganic carbon through the process of dissolution. The area has important economic value in supporting the REDD Program in Berau District. The purpose of this study is (1) to identify the amount of carbon stocks in various ecosystems; and (2) to identify the amount of carbon uptake in various ecosystems in the study area. Carbon stocks are computed based on four carbon sinks, i.e., above ground biomass, underground biomass, litter, and soil organic matter using the standard measurement method of SNI 7724: 2011. Carbon sequestration is calculated based on the input of carbon from the atmosphere to ecosystems through litter fall and karstification process and the output of carbon from the ecosystem to the atmosphere through soil respiration. Litter fall is measured using the litter trap method. Karstification is measured with standard limestone tablet method. Soil respiration is calculated with the closed chamber method. The results show that the ecosystems in the Biduk-Biduk Karst Region have a potential carbon stock of 4,800.92 tons/ha with the largest value in the secondary tropical forest of 732.6 tons/ha and the lowest value in the teak forest plantation of 358.2 tons/ha. Ecosystems in the Biduk-Biduk Karst Region have a potential carbon sequestration of 37.33 tons/ha/year with the largest contribution in the primary tropical forest of 7,63 tons/ha/year.

Indigenous people’s forest management to support REDD program and Indonesia one map policy

The Constitutional Court Number 35 (MK-35) in 2012 has changed the perspective of the customary forests recognition. Before the MK-35 decision, based on the Forestry Act No. 41 of 1999, customary forests are part of state forests so that the management of the customary forest is still under the state control. After the MK-35 decision, customary forests are revoked from state forests so that indigenous peoples have the right to manage and utilize their own customary forests. Problems arise that the customary forests recognition prior requires the indigenous people’s recognition, and this process often takes up the long bureaucracy. The forest management policy in Indonesia itself has not been too siding with indigenous peoples. Tenurial conflicts and overlapped land permits that occur still put the indigenous peoples as victims. This study aims to review forest policy in Indonesia, especially in the concept of REDD+ conservation program and One Map Policy in Indonesia, and to what extent these policies are in favor of the sustainability of indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia.

The carbon conservation of mangrove ecosystem applied REDD program

The ability of mangrove ecosystem to accumulate carbon from air, water and soil as sinker carbon is very important to reduce carbon emission in coastal ecosystem. Carbon sink represent role of mangrove ecosystem to sequestrate carbon emission is developed by a system of mangrove zone and demonstrative activities system. These paper purposes to develop system of carbon conservation in mangrove ecosystem to apply REDD program and demonstrative activities. The research methods used Komiyama equation tCer analysis and demonstrative activities formulation.The research results showed that the carbon percentage of mangrove species between 35.97%–53.98% with Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (52.54%) and Rhizophora apiculata (52.38%) as the biggest carbon sinker of mangrove species. The carbon of mangrove ecosystem were 79.2 tonC/ha −242.2 tonC/ha, with the economic value between 396.2 US$/ha (price 5 U$/tonC) −4360.4 US$/ha, (price 18 US$). The best choice of demonstrative activities in REDD framework to reduce the degradation of mangrove ecosystem was the fish pond. And the best carbon sequestration of mangrove species were Bruguiera praviflora, Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera sexangula, Rhizophora apiculata and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (first mangrove zone).

Tree functional types simplify forest carbon stock estimates induced by carbon concentration variations among species in a subtropical area

Forests contain one of the world’s largest carbon (C) pools and represent opportunities for cost-effective climate change mitigation through programmes such as the United Nations-led “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” Programme (REDD). Generic estimates for the conversion of forest biomass into C stock are not sufficiently accurate for assessing the utility of harvesting forest to offset carbon dioxide emissions, currently under consideration by the REDD Programme. We examined the variation in C concentration among tree species and tree functional types (classified based on leaf morphological and phenological traits) in a subtropical forest and evaluated the effects of these variations on stand-level estimations of C stock. This study was conducted in the Paiyashan Forest State Farm and the Dashanchong Forest Park, Hunan Province, China. C concentrations differed significantly among tree species (P < 0.0001) and were significantly higher in gymnosperm than angiosperm species. Estimations of stand C stocks were similar using either functional types or species- and tissue-specific C concentrations. The use of functional type classification to estimate stand C stock is an effective tool for implementing C sequestration trade and C credit programmes and the UN-REDD Programme in subtropical forests.

Feigning Democracy: Performing Representation in the UN-REDD Funded Nigeria-REDD Programme

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus the sustainable management of forest and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) is a global climate change mitigation initiative. The United Nations REDD Programme (UN-REDD) is training governments in developing countries, including Nigeria, to implement REDD+. To protect local people, UN-REDD has developed social safeguards including a commitment to strengthen local democracy to prevent an elite capture of REDD+ benefits. This study examines local participation and representation in the UN-REDD international policy board and in the national-level design process for the Nigeria-REDD proposal, to see if practices are congruent with the UN-REDD commitment to local democracy. It is based on research in Nigeria in 2012 and 2013, and finds that local representation in the UN-REDD policy board and in Nigeria-REDD is not substantive. Participation is merely symbolic. For example, elected local government authorities, who ostensibly represent rural people, are neither present in the UN-REDD board nor were they invited to the participatory forums that vetted the Nigeria-REDD. They were excluded because they were politically weak. However, UN-REDD approved the Nigeria-REDD proposal without a strategy to include or strengthen elected local governments. The study concludes with recommendations to help the UN-REDD strengthen elected local government authority in Nigeria in support of democratic local representation.

Opportunities and challenges to strengthen indigenous peoples' rights and livelihoods in the context of REDD+: a study of REDD+ implementation in Vietnam

Indigenous peoples have expressed diverging opinions on REDD in consideration of the risks and opportunities that it may provide for them. The present study examines the experience of REDD implementation in Vietnam with a view to assessing whether it has triggered changes in the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and livelihoods, and whether they have been able to participate in REDD design and implementation. It does so by analysing documentary and secondary data through a dedicated analytical framework. The paper finds that REDD implementation has not stimulated an authentic discussion about the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and their voice has mostly been absent. The lack of a human-rights based approach to the national REDD programme poses considerable risks to them. The extent to which they will be able to benefit from REDD will depend on how a number of key issues, including participation and local governance, are addressed.

Effects of corruption on performance: Evidence from the UN-REDD Programme

Corruption is one of the major challenges to the effectiveness of REDD programs and should be addressed. In this paper we use a dynamic game model to analyze the effects of corruption on the performance of REDD programs, and on the benefits to stakeholders. Using panel data from 2010 to 2013 of 11 partner countries of the UN-REDD Programme countries, relationships between corruption and performance in REDD programs are empirical analyzed. Empirical results confirm that an increase in the degree of corruption may lessen emissions reduction, leading to a decrease in an investment in the REDD program. Following from this analysis, this paper proposes to: (i) establish a credible, transparent, and efficient governance structure, (ii) develop a fair and transparent benefit-sharing mechanism, as well as (iii) use a market mechanism in REDD programs to avoid corruption.

Local government authority and representation in REDD+: a case study from Nigeria

SUMMARY Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is a global climate change mitigation initiative. The United Nations REDD Programme (UN-REDD) is building capacity in developing countries interested in REDD+ including Nigeria. REDD+ will reduce access to forests and compromise the livelihoods of local people. UN-REDD commits to strengthen local democracy as a safeguard to prevent elite capture of benefits from REDD+ for local people. This study examined whether local representation in the UN-REDD international policy board and during the consultative process accompanying adoption of REDD+ in Nigeria strengthened local democracy. The study is based on field research in Nigeria in 2012 and 2013. It found that local government authority, the substantive political representatives of local people were not in the UN-REDD policy board, and were absent from th...

Statistical rigor in LiDAR-assisted estimation of aboveground forest biomass

Abstract For many decades remotely sensed data have been used as a source of auxiliary information when conducting regional or national surveys of forest resources. In the past decade, airborne scanning LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) has emerged as a promising tool for sample surveys aimed at improving estimation of above-ground forest biomass. This technology is now employed routinely in forest management inventories of some Nordic countries, and there is eager anticipation for its application to assess changes in standing biomass in vast tropical regions of the globe in concert with the UN REDD program to limit C emissions. In the rapidly expanding literature on LiDAR-assisted biomass estimation the assessment of the uncertainty of estimation varies widely, ranging from statistically rigorous to ad hoc. In many instances, too, there appears to be no recognition of different bases of statistical inference which bear importantly on uncertainty estimation. Statistically rigorous assessment of uncertainty for four large LiDAR-assisted surveys is expounded.

What incentivizes local forest conservation efforts? Evidence from Bolivia

Efforts to promote forest conservation have focused on two separate types of policy reforms. Decentralization reforms have attempted to make local forest governance more accountable to demands from voters. Meanwhile, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes like the REDD program (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) have sought to use economic incentives to promote conservation. These programs make different assumptions about the incentives most likely to work in forest conservation. Decentralization reforms assume that citizen pressures on politicians will encourage conservation, while PES approaches assume that an economic incentive—money—is the best approach. Which type of incentive works best in settings with weak institutions? Here, using a unique longitudinal dataset of forest policy in 100 Bolivian municipalities, we examine the relationships between citizen pressures and economic incentives on forest policy. We find that both types of incentives are positively and significantly associated with government investments in forest conservation, and that the magnitudes of these relationships are similar. Further, we find that economic incentives may be especially effective at promoting conservation where citizen pressures are weak or absent.

Proximate and underlying causes of forest cover change in Peninsular Malaysia

This study examined the process and causes of forest cover change in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 to 2010. Time series data on forest cover, land use, timber production, and socio-economic variables of Peninsular Malaysia were analyzed by regression modeling using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Peninsular Malaysia experienced extensive deforestation during the 1970s and early 1980s, but since then deforestation has slowed down substantially. Regression results highlighted that poverty alleviation was the principal underlying factor leading to change in forest area. Neither population growth nor economic growth was a major factor affecting forest cover. Oil palm expansion was identified as the main proximate cause of deforestation. Regression results also indicate that oil palm expansion greatly contributed to poverty reduction. Our empirical evidence suggests that in Peninsular Malaysia, agricultural development to reduce poverty, in particular oil palm development, initially led to deforestation. However, substantial decrease in poverty caused decrease in deforestation over the long term. Based on the results of this study, we propose poverty alleviation as a strategy to reduce deforestation. Our findings demonstrate the need to analyze factors that reduce deforestation and to develop effective REDD programs.

Kalimantan's biodiversity: developing accounting models to prevent its economic destruction

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the current and historical state of accounting for biodiversity in Kalimantan (Borneo). It is also to evaluate various models for stand-alone biodiversity reporting in the context of the work undertaken in Kalimantan by the United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries (the REDD program). Economics and politics play a dominant role in hindering biodiversity conservation in the region. This article develops and presents an integrated biodiversity measuring, monitoring and reporting model with the aim of undermining the biodiversity damaging activities in the region. The model enables the provision of comprehensive information on biodiversity to support and inform stakeholders' decision-making and economic activities in relation to Kalimantan. Design/methodology/approach – Kalimantan was selected as a case study site to identify the destruction of biodiversity caused by businesses driven by narrow and selfish economic motives. A number of measuring, monitoring and reporting models for biodiversity are analysed under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD's) Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership's reporting framework. Findings – Various social, political and economic impediments to the conservation of Kalimantan's biodiversity currently exist. A comprehensive and multifaceted framework of biodiversity reporting and disclosure needs to be implemented in order to promote accountability for Kalimantan's biodiversity. Such a framework is needed to ensure transparency in relation to the activities of stakeholders that impact biodiversity in the region. Biodiversity reporting can also promote the monitoring and control of the use of Kalimantan's land and labour by businesses. It can inform the economic decision-making at both the international and regional levels that needs to occur in order to protect and rehabilitate Kalimantan's biodiversity and biodiversity habitat. Practical implications – In this article an integrated biodiversity measuring, monitoring and reporting model is presented. In addition to Kalimantan, this model can also be applied to biodiversity reporting in any economically developing region that requires international intervention, investment and guidance to ensure the protection of its biodiversity. The framework developed expands on the current REDD reporting framework for Kalimantan. Originality/value – This is an original research paper.

Supplementing REDD-Plus with Biodiversity Payments: The Paradox of Paying for Multiple Ecosystem Services

An international mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation using carbon payments (REDD) can be leveraged to make payments for forests’ biodiversity as well. Paradoxically, under conditions consistent with emerging REDD programs, money spent on a mixture of carbon payments and biodiversity payments has the potential to incentivize the provision of greater climate benefits than an equal amount of money spent only on carbon payments. This paradoxical result arises when diversifying payments across multiple services allows a funding agency to spend less on additional rents to existing suppliers of avoided deforestation and more on incentivizing the participation of new suppliers.

Effectiveness of REDD programs in the protection of sui generis indigenous rights

Este articulo se enfoca en la implementacion del Programa de Reduccion de Emisiones derivadas de la Reforestacion y la Degradacion Forestal de la Organizacion de Naciones Unidas, en adelante REDD, y su efectividad en la proteccion de derechos indigenas sui generis , entendidos tales como aquellos distintos del derecho de propiedad, pero derivados de este; en especial, los derechos indigenas sobre el territorio, los recursos naturales y los servicios ambientales que prestan los ecosistemas. El articulo revisa la interconexion que existe entre los derechos indigenas sui generis y los programas REDD, incluyendo la relevancia de la tenencia de las tierras y los derechos sui generis derivados de esta. Como enfatizaremos, los programas REDD no solo estan enfocados en la reduccion de las emisiones; de hecho, el programa REDD plus incluye, dentro de sus principales objetivos, el manejo sustentable de los bosques y la proteccion de aquellas comunidades que dependen de estos.

Effectiveness of REDD programs in the protection of sui generis indigenous rights

Effectiveness of REDD programs in the protection of sui generis indigenous rights

Effectiveness of REDD programs in the protection of sui generis indigenous rights

Este artículo se enfoca en la implementación del Programa de Reducción de Emisiones derivadas de la Reforestación y la Degradación Forestal de la Organización de Naciones Unidas, en adelante REDD, y su efectividad en la protección de derechos indígenas sui generis, entendidos tales como aquellos distintos del derecho de propiedad, pero derivados de este; en especial, los derechos indígenas sobre el territorio, los recursos naturales y los servicios ambientales que prestan los ecosistemas. El artículo revisa la interconexión que existe entre los derechos indígenas sui generis y los programas REDD, incluyendo la relevancia de la tenencia de las tierras y los derechos sui generis derivados de esta. Como enfatizaremos, los programas REDD no solo están enfocados en la reducción de las emisiones; de hecho, el programa REDD plus incluye, dentro de sus principales objetivos, el manejo sustentable de los bosques y la protección de aquellas comunidades que dependen de estos.

REDD+ and the Clean Development Mechanism: A comparative perspective

The program, ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ (REDD), which operates within the international climate change policy framework, is projected to emerge as one of the key climate change mitigation mechanisms for developing countries. The existing Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) mechanism, operating under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, may prove useful for drawing lessons for the emerging REDD program, since both mechanisms represent flexible means for developed countries to achieve compliance with their mitigation targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The possible means include CDM as the basis for a project-based approach for the implementation of REDD (if adopted) or the inclusion of REDD within CDM. This article compares the features of A/R CDM and REDD, identifies similarities and differences, and analyses the extent to which the former can provide guidance for the development of a carbon governance mechanism for REDD.