Community Rights andForest Carbon Markets

Case Studies from Cambodia and Indonesia

Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South, August 1, 2012

Oddar MeancheyTerra Global Capital + PACT + Forestry Administration + Children Development Association (CDA)March 2008; 30 year agreement; REDD pilot built on past community forest protection work.

Target Area: 13 community forestry in 58 villages

REDD Pilot Area: 67,783.00 haSource: CDA

REDD took over in 2008 from previous community forest work since 2003.  

“Currently, the main challenge of REDD Pilot Implementation is illegal logging by military and powerful people. Conflicts with powerful men. There are many military in the border area. Economic land concessions (ELCs) and mining are the main issues for REDD. The community forests are very small while the concessions are very large - more than 10,000 ha each. Comparing the two, ELCs and community forests, the ELC area is bigger. The government may consult communities when setting up REDD areas, but people are not consulted when the government issues ELCs”.

A Consultation Workshop. A Biomass

inventory. A 30-year agreement

signed between Forestry Administration and

PACT Cambodia.

Technical support from

Forestry Administration,

Technical WG on Forestry

and Environment, Terra

Global Capital, Climate

Change Clinton

International, & PACT

Cambodia.

Grant from

DANIDA.

Voluntary

Carbon Standard

(VCS) approved,

but no revenue

from carbon

credits yet.

beng commune: dong veng community foresT

B

Beng Commune: Dong Veng Community Forest (CF); 4 villages. CF started in 2004; military regiments moved into 2011, building road and logging.

Dong Veng community forest : forest clearance for road and camp by military.

Ratana Rokha CF: 3 villagesSugarcane plantation in the middle of forest area

Ratana Rokha CF: forest area being cleared by company for sugarcane plantation

Ratana Rokha CF: forest area being cleared by company for sugarcane plantation

Romduol Veasna and Rouloh and Rouloh Thom CFs.

Close to Thai border; army setting up camps, bunkers, building roads, moving families into the forests.

Close to Thai border; Cambodian army setting up camps, bunkers, building roads, moving families into the forests.

Common setbacks• REDD pilot project built on existing CF work.

• Not clear how much “choice” CF members had in joining the project; CF was turned into REDD, with new regulations and new agreement.

• CF members do not understand/know much about the project, except that they are supposed to get 30% of revenue from sale of carbon credits (don’t understand what they are) but have still not received any money.

• Communities unable to take action needed to protect forests from military and concessions, but have to follow new regulations about forest use according to REDD agreement.

Common setbacks

• Differing ideas of benefits at community levels among communities, NGO & government officials.

• Conflicts started among members of the same CF and among different CFs about who should get more money-breaking down of cooperation & commitment.

• Forests getting destroyed & degraded; carbon credits not being sold on market; current forest quality very different from earlier measurements.

REDD will collapse community forestry in Oddar Meanchey. There is nothing in this project, only words and illusions. Chief of provincial CF network, Oddar Meanchey.

The Green and Green Alliance

Increasing interventions of Indonesian Military (TNI) into conservation and climate projects

1. Law 34/2004:•Allows military operations beyond war

•Optimalization to support relevance ministries to achieve government’s goals,

•Integration to village governance in all Indonesian regions that do conservation

 Source: AKSI and Solidaritas Perempuan19

2. Cooperation agreement between

Indonesian Military (TNI) and Office

of Environment Ministry June 3, 2010:

•Synergy of program Environment Ministry and TNI to boost implementation of sustainable development in protection and management of environment in regard to respective roles and duties.

Agreement between Forestry Minister and TNI about forest rehabilitation in conservation forest - March 24, 2011

•A basis for forest rehabilitation in conservation forests and forest protection •Planning, pre-condition, field preparation, provision of sapling,

maintenance, security, monitoring and evaluation•Forest ministry will provide all neccessary operational costs.

 Source: AKSI and Solidaritas Perempuan

20

• No lesson learnt from conflicts areas triggered by conservations through Ecosystem Restoration Concessions

Source: AKSI and Solidaritas Perempuan

21

Lesson learnt from Indonesia FIP for GCF

• FIP is market driven and adds burden to people who already marginalized and impoverished under an incompetent, corrupt and oppressive government

• FIP doesn’t adhere to international human rights and women’s human rights standards and conventions: CPR, ESCR, CEDAW, UNDRIP

• FIP doesn’t comply with its own safeguard requirements

Source: AKSI and Solidaritas Perempuan22

• FIP potentially increases violence and human rights violations in land conflict areas

• FIP potentially contribute to militarization of forest projects through indirectly finance Indonesian military operations in conservation designated areas and strengthen the power of military

• FIP is potentially mismanaged and trigger further corruption

 Source: AKSI and Solidaritas Perempuan

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