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Comments on REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards

Draft REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards are now available for public review. Development of these standards is being facilitated by the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and CARE International.

This initiative is developing standards that can be used by governments, NGOs, financing agencies and other stakeholders to design and implement REDD and other forest carbon programs that respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and generate significant social and biodiversity co-benefits. These standards will be designed to work for the new global REDD+ regime expected to emerge out of ongoing UNFCCC negotiations, that is for government-led programs implemented at national or state/provincial/regional level and for all forms of fund-based or market-based financing.

To review the standards, visit REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards.

REDD can compete financially with palm oil in Indonesia peatlands while protecting endangered species

A new paper by Oscar Venter et al (2009) finds that forest conservation via REDD — a proposed mechanism for compensating developing countries for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation — could be economically competitive with oil palm production, a dominant driver of deforestation in Indonesia.

They found that if CO2 credits could be sold for $10 to $33 per tonne, conserving the forest would be more profitable than clearing the land for oil palm. In addition, forest conservation would prevent 2.1 billion tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere and preserve the habitat of some of the world’s most threatened mammal species living in these forests including the orangutan and Bornean elephant.

Oscar Venter et al. Carbon payments as a safeguard for threatened tropical mammals. Conservation Letters xx (2009) 1–7 doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00059.x (download PDF – subscription required)

Read more: REDD can compete financially with palm oil in Indonesia peatlands while protecting endangered species. Mongabay.com

Where the rubber meets the garden : Nature News

In China's southwestern Yunnan province, the rapid spread of economically lucrative rubber plantations has caused severe land use change and environmental degradation. Deforestation is affecting waterheds, biodiversity and increases carbon emissions, contributing to climate change.  It is becoming clear that economic development must integrate ecosystem concerns in a way that benefits poor farmers and also generates broad societal benefits. This view is becoming accepted by experts in China:

“Xishuangbanna will be pushed over the edge if no immediate action is taken to prevent further forest destruction,” says Xu Jianchu, an ethnoecologist at the Kunming Institute of Botany and China’s representative at the World Agroforestry Centre, an international think tank headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

“We could make as many laws as we want,” says Jiang Pusheng, the Communist party secretary of the prefecture. “But until we provide the farmers with appropriate compensation and alternative economic means, none of the laws can be effectively implemented.”

Scientists at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden have calculated the changes in the value of ecosystem services due to land use changes. Between 1988-2006, the value of ecosystem services dropped by US$11.4 million. The World Agroforestry Centre's Making Mekong Connected initiative is cited as an example of a conservation program in the region that integrates poverty-reduction objectives Note: the full article is for subscribers only.

Paper – Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double Jeopardy for Biodiversity and Climate

BIOFUEL PLANTATIONS ON TROPICAL FORESTLANDS ARE BAD FOR THE CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY, STUDY FINDS

Danielsen et al. Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double Jeopardy for Biodiversity and Climate. Conservation Biology, 2008; DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01096.x

WASHINGTON DC, December 1, 2008 — Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, a study in the journal Conservation Biology finds.

The study reveals that it would take at least 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost through forest conversion. And if the original habitat was carbon-rich peatland, the carbon balance would take more than 600 years.  On the other hand, planting biofuels on degraded Imperata grasslands instead of tropical rain forests would lead to a net removal of carbon in 10 years, the authors found.

The study is the most comprehensive analysis of the impact of oil palm plantations in tropical forests on climate and biodiversity. It was undertaken by an international research team of botanists, ecologists and engineers from seven nations. (more…)

The first major report on the economic impacts of biodiversity loss: “Loss of biodiversity threatens livelihoods of world’s poorest”

The first major report on the economic impacts of biodiversity loss has been released. It is similar to the Stern Review, which revolutionized the way people look at the economics of climate change. The report entitled “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” makes a comprehensive and compelling economic case for conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.