A scheme to save Indonesia’s trees by imposing a two-year national moratorium on forest clearing has run into problems.
Indonesia signed on to the moratorium last year as part of a broader UN programme to reward developing countries for keeping their forests intact.
The UN plan - Redd (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) - calls for Indonesia to impose a two-year ban on new concessions to clear forests and peatlands. In return, Norway will pay Indonesia US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion).
But for the moratorium to be legally binding from its Jan 1 start date, it must be backed by a presidential decree, which has not been issued yet, the Jakarta Globe reported last week. What is more, the Civil Society Organisation Common Platform, which includes the groups Greenpeace South-east Asia and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), says that even if enforced, the moratorium may not protect more forested areas as claimed.
‘Only 41 million hectares will be protected, but these are already categorised as conservation and protected areas,’ Mr Teguh Surya, head of international liaison and climate justice at Walhi, said.
The confusion arises because there are two versions of the draft presidential decree, one submitted by the Forestry Ministry and the other by the Redd task force, appointed by the president.
The ministry’s version states the moratorium should apply only to primary forests and peatlands, while the other version says secondary forests in peat areas should also be included, the Globe reported.
The Redd scheme - which some palm oil and pulp and paper firms fear would hurt their expansion plans - will kick off in Central Kalimantan.
But even before the scheme begins, complications have set in, with carbon brokers reportedly trying to manipulate the system by signing deals with provincial or district governments in East Kalimantan, Papua and Aceh.
Mr Fitrian Ardiansyah, programme director for climate and energy at World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, told the Globe: ‘They say, ‘Sign this. For 100,000ha for Redd, you will get US$2 per hectare.’ But you’re not supposed to count the hectares, you count the carbon.’
Dr Dicky Simorangkir, forest programme director at The Nature Conservancy, told The Straits Times: ‘People are still unsure how this works. How do you measure carbon emission? All these have not been laid out.’
Analysts say that for the Redd scheme to succeed, the carbon reduction targets set out by the government must be followed up with clearer and more detailed benchmarks.
Mr Bustar Matiar, a forest campaigner at Greenpeace, said: ‘This will be a big fight… The enthusiasm is there, but it is up to the government to make it happen.’
