Indonesia has proposed that the scope of the REDD scheme include reductions in deforestation and degradation, and greater forest conservation.Separately, the Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said there would be ample opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emission should the financial incentives be sufficient to flip the political and economic realities that caused deforestation.
“After being left out of the Kyoto agreement, it is promising that deforestation is commanding center-stage at the Bali conference,” CIFOR’s director general, Frances Seymour said in the statement.
“But the danger is that policy makers will fail to appreciate that forest destruction is caused by an incredibly wide variety of political and economic factors that originate outside the forestry sector and require different solution.”
He said that dealing with preventing deforestation in Indonesia, caused by overcapacity in the wood processing industry, was completely different from deforestation stemming from a road project in the Amazon or forest degradation caused by charcoal production in sub-Saharan Africa.
He also calls for a REDD process which is fair to poor forest communities.
“We need to temper the desire for maximum reduction in forest-based carbon emission with regard for the legitimate rights of forest communities to realize income potential of the forestlands,” Seymour said.
“At times there will be trade-offs between reducing carbon emissions and reducing poverty.”
Written by: ASB Blog Editor
