Report: Indonesia may flout rainforest moratorium

Climate funds could be used to finance industry expansion and deforestation in Indonesia, says a report by Greenpeace. Entitled "REDD Alert Protection Money", the report, released on 23 November, accuses the Indonesian forestry and energy sectors of pursuing a business expansion model based on continued logging, despite a two-year moratorium agreed with Norway in May of this year.

"Expansion plans show that these sectors intend to utilise the Indonesian government's ambiguous definitions of forests and degraded land to hijack the funds and use them to subsidise ongoing conversion of natural forests to plantations," said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest Team Leader in a press release.

The report states that the industry is seeking to get around this by designating certain sections of the rainforest and peatlands as degraded. This would allow for the land to be converted into palm oil and pulp and paper plantations.

"This expansion, coupled with weak definitions for degraded land in Indonesia, could see REDD funds which are designed to support protection of Indonesia's forests and peatlands actually being used to support their destruction," states the report. The areas earmarked included 40 per cent of Indonesia's remaining natural forest - an area the size of Norway and Denmark combined.

The report also claims that Indonesia's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction proposals may create perverse incentives to clear forests and peatlands, create opportunities for corruption and actually drive an increase in GHG emissions. However, the report suggests that further deforestation is not necessary and that government data suggests production goals can be achieved as long as productivity improves.

"It is clear that the palm and paper sectors can achieve expansion targets without damaging another hectare of forest. This would be a win for the industry and Indonesian economy, a win for forest communities and threatened species, and a model of the real-world solutions we need to tackle climate change," said Bustar Maitar. Maitar welcomed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's stance on the need to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

As part of the agreement with Norway, Indonesia has established a moratorium on new concessions in natural forests and peatlands beginning in January 2011, but Greenpeace says the moratorium must be extended to existing concessions in order to be effective. They have called for meaningful definitions of what constitutes degraded rainforest land, as well as greater transparency on land use.

Some measures put forth by Greenpeace have already been incorporated in the reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) agreement. The Norwegian Government says the funds will go toward establishing a system that will monitor all emissions associated with land use change, whether or not the land is classified by the Indonesian government as forest.

"Through the national system to monitor, report and verify emissions we will pay Indonesia based on actual results," Erik Solheim, Norway's Minister of the Environment and International Cooperation, told mongabay.com. "In this system, emissions caused by the conversion of natural forests and peatlands to other uses will be detected and reported, and will influence on the level of payments. Hence, the Norwegian-Indonesian partnership – and a future global REDD-regime - would reduce or eliminate the economic incentives for continued forest conversion."

Indonesia is the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, due mainly to widespread deforestation by the palm oil and paper industries. Its rainforest is home to nearly 50 per cent of the remaining forested orangutan habitat in Kalimantan, on Borneo Island. Due to the Greenpeace report the world will be watching Indonesia's next move very closely in the coming months and years.

Author: Leroy Robinson | Climate Action

Image: amandabhslater | Flickr