Skip to content
Menu
REDD-Monitor
  • Start here
  • About REDD-Monitor
  • REDD: An introduction
  • Contact
REDD-Monitor

Missing the Poorest for the Trees?

Posted on 5 July 201319 September 2017

“In order to be both effective and equitable, REDD+ will require large areas of land with clear tenure arrangements. Yet many developing countries suffer from conflicts over land ownership and continue to exclude local communities from land use decisions. How will REDD+ impact peace and security in these countries?”

The question is from a new report titled, “Missing the Poorest for the Trees? REDD+ and the Links between Forestry, Resilience and Peacebuilding”, written by four students at the London School of Economics: Tobias Dorr, Adriaan Heskamp, Ian Madison and Katherine Reichel. The report can be downloaded here.

The authors cite a 2012 report in the International Forestry Review about forests in Asia that notes that the vast majority of conflicts related to forests take place at village level. Three related issues are involved:

  • overlapping statutory and customary tenure;
  • the exclusion of local communities in land use decisions and economic development policies; and
  • poor coordination between state agencies

The authors point out that “Companies involved in logging, agroforestry, or other forest-related activities can be exposed to conflict, even exacerbating it in certain circumstances.” Such conflicts can be expensive and damaging to company’s reputations, particularly if the conflict results in consumer or legal campaigns against the company. This has implications for REDD, especially if REDD is going to rely on private investment.

The authors refer to a report produced earlier this year by The Munden Project that points out that most investors are unaware of the financial risks involved in projects with insecure land rights or conflicts over land. Yet as The Munden Project’s report states,

“property rights in many emerging markets are dysfunctional to the point that ownership of land can be granted to an investor without the tens of thousands of people living on, or dependent on, the land knowing about it.”

The authors of the “Missing the Poorest for the Trees?” report note that even where land tenure is secure, risks remain:

In cases where tenure is clear and secure, the risk remains that ill-informed or corrupt local leaders could sign away land rights without understanding the consequences for, or obtaining the consent of, those who live on the land. Because REDD+ will potentially increase the value of standing forests, the tensions outlined above could be aggravated in the ensuing ‘carbon rush’.

The authors produced case studies of three countries: Indonesia, Brazil and Uganda. The case study findings are summarised in the report:

Indonesia, one of the earliest supporters of REDD+, is experiencing a surge in conflicts related to land rights across the country. Confusion over land tenure will be a critical challenge, and legal recognition of customary land rights differs among state agencies. This is exacerbated by financially attractive alternatives to REDD+, such as mines or oil palm plantations. These land use decisions often lack local participation and continue to be at the centre of land disputes.

With a long history of indigenous and local struggles over land rights, Brazil has recently seen an increasing amount of violence associated with land and forest conflicts. Legal loopholes relating to the ‘productive use’ of land have played a major role in deforestation by encouraging both landowners and squatters to clear forests. Though a land reform programme is underway, questions remain over whether it will be adequate to ensure the peaceful widespread implementation of REDD+ projects.

Finally, Uganda is one of the most enthusiastic proponents of REDD+ in Africa. It also has one of the continent’s highest rates of deforestation and, due to unclear tenure arrangements, has been the site of recent forced displacements related to carbon-offset tree plantations. Considering that wood fuel makes up 90% of the country’s energy consumption – even more among rural communities – the potential for negative impacts on livelihoods from displacements or increased restrictions resulting from REDD+ will need to be addressed.

The report points out that REDD could help resolve conflict. But one of the examples they choose to illustrate this is unfortunate. The Kalimantan Forest Carbon Partnership was recently shut down – before meeting its goals. Although the project did provide technical advice to rubber farmers, helping them improve yields, it failed to address the land tenure issues in the project area. Deddy Ratih of WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) says the project, “created conflict in local communities and confusion about the status of their land”. KFCP also failed to implement the principle of free, prior and informed consent.

(The report was published a few days after Indonesia’s Constitutional Court returned customary forests to indigenous peoples, overturning the 1999 Forestry Law. As a result, the discussion about land rights in Indonesia in the report is somewhat eclipsed by this decision. How the Constitutional Court’s decision will impact REDD remains to be seen.)

Nevertheless, the report is a useful contribution to the REDD debate. Addressing land rights is crucial to addressing deforestation and reducing forest conflicts.


PHOTO Credit: Landless farmers protest in Jakarta, by Jonathan McIntosh.
 

1 thought on “Missing the Poorest for the Trees?”

  1. peat says:
    5 July 2013 at 11:31 am

    In the context of Papua (which Indonesia has occupied for 50 years), what are the implications of the ruling of the Indonesian Constitutional Court concerning customary forests and indigenous peoples?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SUBSCRIBE!

Recent themes
30x30
Natural Climate Solutions
WWF's conservation scandals
Aviation and offsetting
Conservation Watch

Recent Comments

  • Ben on Response from Kurt Kaiser, Director of Compass Carbon: “Your article was of great concern to us”. And some questions for Kaiser from REDD-Monitor
  • James Mewa Kamaya on Papua New Guinea’s Forest Authority cancels Mayur Resources’ Kamula Doso REDD project
  • Benedikt von Butler on Switzerland’s offsetting deal with Peru excludes REDD. It will still not reduce emissions
  • Chris Ibe on Bar Works: The return of Renwick Haddow
  • Xindia on Bar Works: The return of Renwick Haddow

Recent Posts

  • REDD-Monitor is moving to Substack
  • REDD Project in Brazil Nut concessions in Madre de Dios, Peru finally started paying communities a decade after the project started. “I’m still lacking money,” says one community member
  • REDD-Monitor’s top ten posts in 2022
  • The harsh reality of 30×30: The EU is keen to allow extractivism in the 30×30 target – but not Indigenous Peoples’ territories
  • Human rights abuses against Indigenous Peoples and the proposed “30×30” target

Recent Comments

  • Ben on Response from Kurt Kaiser, Director of Compass Carbon: “Your article was of great concern to us”. And some questions for Kaiser from REDD-Monitor
  • James Mewa Kamaya on Papua New Guinea’s Forest Authority cancels Mayur Resources’ Kamula Doso REDD project
  • Benedikt von Butler on Switzerland’s offsetting deal with Peru excludes REDD. It will still not reduce emissions
  • Chris Ibe on Bar Works: The return of Renwick Haddow
  • Xindia on Bar Works: The return of Renwick Haddow

Issues and Organisations

30x30 AB 32 Andes Amazon Boiler rooms California Can REDD save ... ? Carbon accounting Carbon Credits Carbon Offsets CDM Conservation-Watch Conservation International COP21 Paris Cryptocurrency Deforestation EcoPlanet Bamboo Evictions FCPF Financing REDD Fossil fuels FSC Green Climate Fund Greenpeace Guest post Human rights ICAO Illegal logging Indigenous Peoples Natural Climate Solutions NGO statements Plantations R-M interview REDD and rights REDD in the news Risk RSPO-Watch Safeguards Sengwer The Nature Conservancy UN-REDD UNFCCC Verra World Bank WRM WWF

Countries

Australia Bolivia Brazil Cambodia Cameroon Canada China Colombia Congo Basin region Costa Rica DR Congo Ecuador El Salvador European Union France Gabon Germany Guyana Honduras India Indonesia Kenya Luxembourg Madagascar Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Nicaragua Norway Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Republic of Congo Sierra Leone Spain Sweden Tanzania Thailand Uganda UK Uncategorized United Arab Emirates USA West Papua
©2025 REDD-Monitor | Powered by SuperbThemes!