REDD alert

Forests seem like the 'low hanging fruit' of efforts to curb global carbon emissions.

Just halting the world's current rate of deforestation could cut human emissions by up to 20 percent.

In Durban, negotiators will seek to agree on a system of incentives that would reward forest preservation. Under the mechanism called REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation – rich countries would pay developing countries to keep forests.

Yet observers fear that the scheme could accelerate deforestation if executed wrongly.

"One of the sticking points, and there are many, has to do with how REDD programs are going to affect local rights," said Cronkleton, who researches the role of indigenous peoples in forest protection at the Center for International Forest Research (CIFOR).

"Many of the best-maintained forests in the tropics are occupied and actively used by local peoples," he said.

Critics fear that indigenous people could be forced to make way for timber plantations designated as 'forests,' if the details of REDD negotiations aren't ironed out.

REDD problems in Indonesia

Pay-to-preserve schemes like REDD continue to be hindered by corruption, powerful industry interests and bureaucracy.

Indonesia is a case in point.

The UN estimates it is home to the earth's third-largest remaining swath of tropical rainforest. It also has the world's highest rate of deforestation, which makes it the planet's third-largest carbon emitter, according to a World Bank study from 2007.

Although the national government has committed to drastic reductions in deforestation and sees REDD as a potential source of revenue, critics question whether conditions are right for a scheme that could see billions of dollars change hands.

"Inadequate oversight and conflicts of interest also raise a red flag over whether Indonesia can be a reliable carbon-trading partner," Human Rights Watch said in a statement accompanying a 2009 report on Indonesian forest management.

The organization said half of timber logged in Indonesia was extracted illegally, costing the country at least $2 billion (1.5 billion euros) annually.

Indigenous role

Britain's LifeMosaic, which campaigns for indigenous rights, says locals often fail to benefit from REDD in Indonesia and have sometimes been criminalized for using forests that their ancestors have lived in for generations.

CIFOR, which is based in Jakarta, has also released a paper outlining unresolved issues over the area and status of land covered by the Indonesian government's two-year moratorium on granting logging concessions.

Cronkleton says the rights of indigenous people are a key to conservation success, since international studies have shown that people who have lived for generations with forests tend to be their best stewards.

Although REDD allows national governments to set aside forest reserves, this doesn't guarantee that the reserves will be policed, he adds.

"Often in the developing world, states lack the resources and political will to maintain national parks," Cronkleton said.

Indigenous peoples are often pushed off the land and valuable old-growth forests are then logged to make room for timber plantations or other types of agriculture.

What is a forest?

Even the definition of a forest is causing headaches.

Until now, REDD has used the UN definition, which defines forest as an area larger than 0.5 hectares with at least 10 percent tree crown cover.

Critics point out that a football field with a tree planted at each corner and one in the middle could count as a forest under this definition.

Monoculture tree plantation could also count as forests, including palm oil plantations that have spread with the growing demand for biofuel, often at the cost of primal forest.

Greenpeace REDD expert Cristoph Thies told Deutsche Welle that it would be a disaster if the Durban negotiations allowed monoculture to be considered forest.

"We are very hopeful that the ecological integrity of the REDD treaty, whatever it looks like in the end, will be great enough to prevent this from happening," Thies said.

UN optimistic

Despite the concerns of observers, Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme, is optimistic that negotiators will capitalize on progress reached last year in Cancun because there are "win-win benefits" within easy reach.

"The economic incentives associated with this are very practical," Steiner said.

So far, 14 nations are using the REDD framework. Another 21 countries are collaborating with REDD to develop their forest policies.

Author: Helle Jeppesen / Sonya Angelica Diehn
Editor: Nathan Witkop