Community Forest Management in the Heart of Borneo

Transcription

1 Community Forest Management in the Heart of Borneo Briefing Note 2: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Community forest management can play an important role in Indonesia s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation The international Plan Vivo Standard certifies emission reductions, helping communities to generate income from the sale of carbon offsets and other sources of results-based finance Simple methods for estimation and monitoring of greenhouse gas emission reductions, approved by Plan Vivo, were developed through two pilot projects in Kalimantan The pilot projects have the potential to prevent emission of more than 350,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in their first five years of operation The methods described in this briefing note can be applied to community forest management projects throughout the Heart of Borneo

2 Deforestation and forest degradation in Indonesia is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation (known as REDD+) through effective community forest management therefore have the potential to contribute to national and global efforts to limit the adverse effects of climate change. The Sustainable Forest and Biodiversity Management in Borneo (SFBMB) project is funded by the Asian Development Bank and implemented by the Republic of Indonesia s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Directorate of Environmental Services for Conservation Areas (DESCA). The project established community forest management activities with the aim of preventing deforestation and forest degradation in two pilot sites Nanga Lauk Village Forest (NLVF) in West Kalimantan, and Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory (PACT) in North Kalimantan. This briefing note describes the approaches developed for, and the potential emissions reductions expected to result from, effective community forest management at the SFBMB pilot sites. The project identified that sales of 'emission reduction certificates' were likely to offer a source of funding for forest protection and livelihoods activities at the pilot sites, and therefore explored this potential. Given the relatively small size of the project areas, cost effective approaches to assessing and monitoring emission reductions were needed, and this led to the selection of the 'Plan Vivo' standard. The project pilot sites achieved the status of being the first village forests in Indonesia to be validated by Plan Vivo - a significant achievement. For full details and further information see the Plan Vivo Project Design Documents: Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory Nanga Lauk Village Forest The Plan Vivo Standard The Plan Vivo Standard is an international standard for the certification of community-led projects that deliver verifiable emission reductions, and improvements to local ecosystems and livelihoods. For projects to be registered by Plan Vivo they must produce Project Design Documents (PDDs) describing the expected benefits of the project, and the activities that will be carried out to achieve them. These PDDs are reviewed by technical experts and an independent validator. Plan Vivo projects produce annual reports on their achievements that are submitted to the Plan Vivo Foundation. If required monitoring targets are met, certificates for each tonne of carbon dioxide emission reduction achieved are issued to the project. These certificates can be sold as carbon offsets, or used as a means of demonstrating performance to project funders. This allows communities to generate income and/or other community benefits. 2

3 Baseline emission scenarios A baseline emission scenario, also known as a Reference Emission Level (REL) or Forest Reference Level (FRL), describes the emissions expected from deforestation and forest degradation if no action is taken to prevent emissions. This is sometimes referred to as the Business-as-Usual scenario. At both of the pilot sites, a continuation of current land use was identified as the most likely baseline land-use scenario, and barriers were identified that would prevent the communities from effectively protecting the project areas without outside support. The barrier analysis for the sites is summarised below. Legal/ Political Financial Technical Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory (PACT) Punan Adiu community lacks the legal rights to their customary territory, most of which are currently assigned to logging, mining and oil palm concessions. Without these rights, the Punan Adiu community lacks the legal basis to develop and enforce controls on forest use in the PACT. Punan Adiu is a poor community with few sources of cash income, and urgent village development needs, including securing a clean water supply and development of healthcare and education facilities and support. The community lacks the finance required to develop and implement the activities needed to effectively protect their customary territory. The Punan Adiu community have little experience of forest patrolling and monitoring, and currently employ only basic processing and marketing techniques to produce and sell rattan products. Nanga Lauk Village Forest (NLVF) Lack of Government support to for social forestry. Nanga Lauk community lacks the financial means to conduct effective forest patrol and monitoring activities, or to improve existing livelihood opportunities. Forest patrols and monitoring activities also prevent them from pursuing their usual livelihood activities, representing an opportunity cost. Nanga Lauk community members lack the capacity to conduct effective forest patrol and monitoring activities. Forest resource user groups lack business development capacity and knowledge of processes that could be used to add value to their products, including rattan. The community members also lack knowledge of the processes for establishing and managing tree nurseries for the species they wish to plant. 3

4 Briefing Note 2: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Baseline emissions methodology A methodology for quantifying expected greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation under the baseline scenario was developed. To help ensure that estimates of emission reductions and removals were credible and conservative, the methodology was submitted for independent review and approval by the Plan Vivo Foundation the organisation that manages the Plan Vivo Standard. The methodology employs a stratified baseline approach that assumes historical patterns of deforestation and forest degradation in a reference region will occur in the project area if no action is taken to prevent them. The reference region adopted for each project site was defined by the district boundary within which the project area is located Kapuas Hulu for Nanga Lauk, and Malinau for Punan Adiu. Past patterns of deforestation at the district level were assessed for the forest strata present within each of the project areas. Forest strata were defined according to forest type, topography, and legal status to control for the effects of these factors on deforestation and forest degradation. For both sites, a reference period from 2005 to 2016 was adopted. Forest strata maps for the project areas in 2016, and the reference regions in 2005 are shown in Figures 1 to 4. Emission reduction potential The emission reductions expected to result from project activities were estimated with the equation: Where: ER = EBL- EPS- ELK ER = expected emission reduction EBL = baseline scenario emissions EPS = project scenario emissions ELK = potential leakage emissions The approaches for estimating baseline scenario, project scenario and leakage emissions, and the emission reduction estimates for the pilot sites are in the following sections. 4

5 Briefing Note 2: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Figure 1 Forest strata in Nanga Lauk Village in

6 Briefing Note 2: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Figure 2 Forest strata in Kapuas Hulu District in

7 Figure 3 Forest strata in Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory in

8 Figure 4 Forest strata in Malinau Dstrict in

9 Baseline emissions estimates (E BL ) The annual proportion of forest lost and degraded in the reference regions over the period 2005 to 2016 is summarised below. These percentages were applied to project areas to estimate the expected areas deforested and degraded during a 5-year project period from 2016 to 2022 under a 'business-as-usual' scenario. Carbon stocks in above-ground and below-ground biomass for different land cover types were derived from a comprehensive literature review. Carbon stock changes from deforestation and forest degradation in the different forest types were used to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions for the baseline scenario. Expected baseline emissions were 6,397 t CO 2 per year for NLVF and 91,712 t CO 2 per year for PACT. Legal designation Forest type and topographic class Annual % deforested Annual % degraded Protection forest (Hutan Lindung) Peat Swamp Forest 0.2% 0.13% Secondary Peat Swamp 0.1% NA Forest Riparian Forest 1.7% 0.01% Secondary Riparian Forest 0.5% NA Limited production forest (Hutan Produksi Terbatas) Peat Swamp Forest 0.1% 0.21% Secondary Peat Swamp 0.4% NA Forest Riparian Forest 1.5% 0.17% Secondary Riparian Forest 4.0% NA Total 0.7% 0.28% Table 1 Average proportion of forest strata in the Kapuas Hulu District deforested and degraded during the period 2005 to

10 Legal designation Forest type and topographic class Annual % deforested Annual % degraded Protection forest (Hutan Lindung) Lowland 0.2% 0.2% Secondary Lowland 0.9% 0.0% Hill and Sub-montane Secondary Hill and Submontane 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 0.0% Limited production forest (Hutan Produksi Terbatas) Lowland 0.2% 1.3% Secondary Lowland 0.3% 0.0% Hill and Sub-montane Secondary Hill and Submontane 0.1% 0.8% 0.4% 0.0% Other use area (Area Penggunaan Lain) Lowland 0.9% 1.5% Secondary Lowland 1.6% 0.0% Hill and Sub-montane Secondary Hill and Submontane 0.2% 0.5% 1.3% 0.0% Total 0.2% 0.2% Table 2 Average proportion of forest strata in the Kapuas Hulu District deforested and degraded during the period 2005 to 2016 Project scenario emissions (E PS ) Effective implementation of the project activities to protect the forests and support livelihoods are expected to prevent deforestation and forest degradation at the pilot sites. It is acknowledged, however, that some external factors may be beyond the control of the communities. Project scenario emissions are therefore estimated based on the expected effectiveness of project activities in preventing baseline emissions, after consideration 10

11 of factors that could affect the projects. The factors considered when deciding on the expected effectiveness at the pilot sites are summarised below. On the basis of this assessment, project scenario emissions for NLVF were estimated as 10% of baseline emissions, or 640 tco 2 per year, and for PACT project scenario emissions were estimated as 25% of baseline emissions or 22,928 tco 2 per year. Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory (PACT) Agricultural expansion could reduce emission reductions by up to 0.5% Opening fallows could reduce the apparent emission reductions by up to 1.5% Nanga Lauk Village Forest (NLVF) Unavoidable or unexpected impacts for example encroachment by timber and oil palm companies could reduce emission reductions by up to 10% A planned road that the community may not be able to prevent from being constructed could reduce emission reduction by up to 18.5% Other factors beyond the control of the community could reduce emission reductions by up to 5% Table 3 Factors surrounding project scenario emissions. Leakage emissions (E LK ) When projects aim to reduce emissions by preventing deforestation and forest degradation within a defined project area, there is potential that the project activities could result in an increase in emissions outside the project area as a result of displaced activities. To estimate potential emissions from displaced activities (or leakage emissions), the potential for displacement of the agents and drivers of deforestation and forest degradation (whose activities the projects would seek to control) was assessed. The agents and drivers considered at the two sites are listed below. None of these agents or drivers were considered to have potential to cause significant leakage emissions, either because appropriate land for the displaced activity was not available locally, or the level of impact in the baseline scenario was minimal. 11

12 Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory (PACT) Timber companies commercial logging operations Mining companies mining operations Oil palm companies expansion of oil palm plantations Nanga Lauk Village Forest (NLVF) Timber companies commercial logging operations; encroachment Oil palm companies expansion of oil palm plantations; encroachment Nanga Lauk community timber harvesting; agricultural expansion Punan Adiu community Unsustainable timber harvesting; Expansion of smallholder agriculture Neighbouring village communities Unsustainable timber harvesting; Expansion of smallholder agriculture Outsiders Illegal timber harvesting Table 4 Factors surrounding project leakage emissions. For both of the project sites a conservative assumption that 5% of emission reductions would be lost through leakage was therefore adopted for the project period from 2016 to For NLVF potential leakage emissions were therefore estimated at 288 tco 2 per year, and for PACT estimated leakage emissions were 3,437 tco 2 per year. Expected emission reductions (ER) The expected annual emission reductions for the two sites are summarised below Baseline scenario emissions (E BL ) Project scenario emissions (E PS ) Leakage emissions (E LK ) Emission reduction (ER) t CO 2 /yr t CO 2 /yr t CO 2 /yr t CO 2 /yr NLVF 6, ,469 PACT 91,712 22,928 3,437 65,347 Table 5 Expected annual emissions reductions. 12

13 Monitoring and verification Project design documents for both pilot sites have been approved by Plan Vivo, providing potential to generate emission reduction certificates that can be transacted through the voluntary carbon market, bringing income into the community. To meet Plan Vivo s requirements to issue and verify emission reduction certificates, ongoing monitoring and periodic verification of emission reductions achieved is required. The projects will therefore employ three types of REDD+ monitoring: i) Monitoring activity-based indicators to determine whether forest protection and livelihood activities are being carried out as planned; ii) Monitoring threats of deforestation and forest degradation to provide an early warning and allow preventative actions before deforestation and degradation occurs; and iii) Remote sensing assessment to determine land-cover change and verify emission reductions achieved. These monitoring approaches are summarised below. Activity-based monitoring Each year the projects will submit an annual report to Plan Vivo describing achievement of a range of activity-based indicators designed to demonstrate whether the project is being carried out as described in the Project Design Document. If all indicator thresholds are met, Plan Vivo will issue the agreed number of emission reduction certificates. If some or all of the thresholds are not met for one or more consecutive monitoring periods, a proportion of the agreed certificates will be withheld until corrective actions have been implemented and all thresholds are met. The forest protection indicators and thresholds for the pilot sites are shown below. Activity-based indicators for livelihood activities are less prescriptive and are based on progress being made over the monitoring period. Indicator Threshold Punan Adiu Customary Community Territory (PACT) Nanga Lauk Village Forest (NLVF) Securing rights Forest management institution functioning In the last 12 months, progress has been made towards securing rights to management and utilization of the project area. In the last 12 months, members of the forest management body have met at least once a month, and reported to the project coordinator at least once every 3 months. In the last 12 months, progress has been made towards securing rights to management and utilization of the project area. The forest management institution office has equipment and its members have the necessary capacity to implement management plans; and in the last 12 months, members have met at least once a month, and reported to the project coordinator at least once every 3 months. 13

14 Village regulations Boundary marking Forest patrol and monitoring Regulations on the use of forest resources are in place and are sufficient to ensure sustainable forest management, prevent deforestation and forest degradation, and conserve biodiversity. The boundary of the PACT is clearly marked, at least 4 information boards with details of village regulations on use of forest resources are in place, and fire breaks are open. Forest patrol teams have necessary equipment and capacity to complete effective patrol and monitoring activities, and have conducted two boundary patrols, and six routine patrols in each of the four patrol blocks, within the last 12 months. Regulations on the use of forest resources are in place and are sufficient to ensure sustainable forest management, prevent deforestation and forest degradation, and conserve biodiversity. The boundary of the project areas is clearly marked in year-2 after the start of the project; sign boards with details of village regulations on use of forest resources and fire monitoring tower are in place. Forest patrol teams have necessary equipment and capacity to complete effective patrol and monitoring activities, and have conducted two boundary patrols, and 12 routine patrols in NLVF within the last 12 months. Threat monitoring Forest patrol and monitoring teams will conduct regular patrols within the project areas. Evidence of threats encountered will be recorded with geo-referenced photographs using a tailor-made Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) application, and handheld devices. Information recorded by patrol teams will include: Unsanctioned opening of fields - Location, area of forest cleared (measured or estimated), reason for clearance (e.g. agriculture/road building), responsible party (if known) Unsanctioned trees felled - Location, approximate date felled (if known), species (if possible), reason for felling (e.g. timber), responsible party (if known) Area affected by forest fire - Location, area affected (measured or estimated), cause of fire (natural or human), reason for fire (if known), severity of damage, responsible party (if applicable and known) 14

15 This information will be stored in a project database and regularly reviewed to determine whether any actions to address threats identified threats identified are required. Monitoring results will also be shared with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Land-cover change assessment To verify emission reductions achieved during each 5-year project period, and to revise estimates of emission reductions expected in subsequent project periods, an assessment of land-cover change in the project area and reference region will be carried out at the end of each project period by a trained remote sensing and GIS technician. The results of this analysis will be submitted to Plan Vivo and verified by an independent auditor. Conclusion These are the first community-based forest management schemes in Indonesia to be validated by Plan Vivo. It is expected that these pilot projects will obtain emission reduction certificates that can be sold to help the communities carry out sustainable management of their forests and biodiversity in the long-term. The SFBMB project developed methodologies to assess emission reductions at the pilot sites, as well as cost-effective monitoring approaches, and these have provided credible and conservative estimates that meet the requirements of the Plan Vivo Standard. The methodologies are summarised in this briefing note and are available and appropriate for use by other projects in the region. They hold the potential to address the needs for both community forest management and REDD+ throughout the Heart of Borneo. 15

16 The SFBMB project ran from September 2015 to February These briefing notes and an overall summary have been produced to celebrate the achievements of and share lessons from the project: Briefing Note 1: Protecting forests and improving livelihoods Briefing Note 2: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Briefing Note 3: Conserving Biodiversity Sustainable forest and biodiversity management in Borneo - a summary Photograph Credits: Photos used within this document are SFBMB project photographs unless otherwise stated. SFBMB project team members and SFBMB project photographer Reza Marlon are credited for project photographs. LTS Limited International (UK) Pentlands Science Park Bush Loan. Penicuik. Nr. Edinburgh EH26 0PL Scotland Tel: (+44) Fax: (+44) mail@ltsi.co.uk Daemeter Consulting Jl. Tangkuban Perahu 1 Taman Kencana Bogor, Jawa Barat Tel./Fax: info@daemeter.org