Photo: Terry Sunderland
Controversy continued to swirl around the financial incentive scheme to conserve forests – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) – at the ATBC meeting.
Chris Barr, former CIFOR researcher and now at Woods & Wayside International, described REDD as a big carrot being used by the international community to change financial incentives for forest conservation but warned caution is necessary.
“On the one hand, we will be mobilizing very large amounts of money – $US28 billion a year – and on the other hand much of this money is going to be channeled into some of the most corrupt countries in the world,” he said.
“Capacity building for REDD is going to place direct challenges to powerful political interests, to the extent that effective implementation could threaten the interests of actors involved in illegal logging and corruption.”
Barr said there is prediction that powerful state elites will seek to control the distribution of money.
This could result in carbon fraud through verification of fictitious projects or overestimation of carbon benefits through political pressure or bribery, he said.
Photo courtesy of Terry Sunderland
But Barr believed forest people could be the biggest victims of carbon fraud under the REDD scheme.
“In PNG projects were developed which resulted in people moving to claim rights and making false claims or using political leverage to secure unfair contracts from forest communities,” he said.
Elizabeth Loso from the Organisation of Tropical Studies believed REDD increased the political viability of conservation of forests. She agreed the sector is weak and that strengthening of national legislation and institutions are required.
However, she warned that promoting a single minded national and international focus on carbon in terms of REDD, could crowd out the ability to go back and offer different solutions to governments.
Photo courtesy of Terry Sunderland
Professor Jaboury Ghazoul from ETH Zurich said many people stand to lose their jobs and will need to seek alternative livelihoods if REDD is implemented effectively.
In Indonesia, REDD has the potential to provide income from payments of between $US3.8 to 15 billion a year. But 360,000 locals are employed directly in the forestry sector, with 36 per cent of employees from indigenous communities.
“I think local job loss is an issue governments are aware of and are thinking about but scientists might not be because they are on the ground and thinking about REDD implementation. It’s something scientists should be thinking about,” he said.
To hear Professor Ghazoul speak more about conservation please click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJB9WB_HMSM
