Indonesia is reportedly ready to implement the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD-plus) as part of a post-2012 climate deal.
The UN has allocated US$5.6 million for its REDD program in Indonesia, of which US$3.75 million is managed by the UN-REDD Program Indonesia with the assistance of three UN agencies: FAO, UNEP and UNDP. To explore the progress of the initiative, The Jakarta Post recently talked to El-Mostafa Benlamlih, resident coordinator of the United Nations program in Indonesia. Below are the excerpts.
Question: Could you describe the progress of the UN-REDD Indonesia Program?
The UN-REDD program in Indonesia is a kind of preparatory work approved under the UN-REDD global framework for Indonesia’s implementation of REDD-plus. It has selected a pilot region in Central Sulawesi, which has vast dry forestland with communities living both inside and outside the area. It has also developed strategies and approaches to talk, consult with and involve local communities in methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time preserving the livelihoods of the local communities. REDD-plus is about how best to make Indonesia part of the global solution to global warming while remaining competitive within a global low-carbon industrial context.
How can we reduce carbon while at the same time protecting the livelihoods of the people, and even creating new alternative livelihoods?
Development is not only about how to increase profit and products, but also how best to maintain the peoples’ livelihoods.
Foreign influences have been accused of using the moratorium package to instruct the Indonesian government to stop the issuance of new permits for exploitation of primary forests and peatlands. What is your view?
REDD is a national decision. In COP 13 in Bali, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to reduce carbon by 26 percent by 2020, and by as much as 41 percent with foreign assistance. It’s the right decision, as Indonesia has become a champion for reducing carbon emissions to fight global warming. It was really a long-term visionary commitment, pledged by the President, as he said that “We have to choose a low-carbon path of industrial production if we want to survive and be competitive in the future”. So it’s an Indonesian commitment.
Do you think such a moratorium will put pressure on Indonesia, so it might face difficulties competing against global industrial players?
Indonesia will be much more competitive if we can go beyond that and make the right decisions. Let’s talk about the timber and palm oil industries. Indonesia still stands behind Malaysia in terms of efficiency in managing its own palm oil industry. It’s the right time for Indonesia to say that the solution is proper forestry management and a sustainable palm oil industry, instead of just expansion.
Do you think that REDD-plus is still an important issue, because we have new concepts, including green economy and low-carbon development?
If we talk about low-carbon development, we are talking about the concept of development as a whole. REDD-plus is a mechanism to build capacity and an approach to making development less harmful to the environment and to people. It’s important for us to remember that we have the Kyoto Protocol. In the Indonesian context, REDD-plus clearly goes beyond the Norway deal, or anything else. After the Norway agreement is completed in 2016, Indonesia needs to think about other options. This is why we are all now talking about a low-carbon economy, which is part of the global commitment to coping with global warming.
