The reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme would allow forestry nations like Indonesia to harvest dollars from forest protection programs. A report from Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has warned that the REDD scheme would only succeed if corruption, financial management capacity and transparency for financial transfer were addressed. It said many of the countries with the most remaining forests were also those with the weakest governance structures to control corruption. “Our report underlines that we should be paying increased attention to the measurements, reporting and verification of REDD-related financial flows,” Cifor director Frances Seymour said.

“The legislature needs to be involved because we could use our networks in other developing countries so that we can push developed countries to really commit to set up emission targets,” Satya said. The Commission invited a number of major Indonesia environmental groups, who had been critical of the outcome of the talks in Copenhagen, to the hearing to discuss the performance of the Indonesian delegation. The groups included the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

REDD allows polluters to earn tradeable carbon credits by paying developing nations not to chop down their trees. However, a two-year study by the West Java-based Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) warned that past and recent cases of corruption and financial mismanagement in Indonesia’s forestry sector revealed systemic weaknesses that could scuttle REDD. “Investors should be looking very carefully at the financial governance conditions in the countries where they will be investing their funds. Like Indonesia, many tropical forest countries have long track records of mismanaging public financial resources, particularly in the forestry sector,” said the report’s co-author, Christopher Barr.

The story also appeared in The Star (Malaysia), Mother Nature Networks (USA), Gulf Times (Qatar), Stabroek News (South Africa) and Jakarta Globe.

The Indonesian government squandered billions of dollars in funds set aside for reforestation through corruption and mismanagement in the 1990s, raising important questions as the country prepares for the influx of money from a proposed climate change mitigation scheme known as REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation), warns a new report released Tuesday by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a forest policy research group. The report, titled Financial governance and Indonesia’s Reforestation Fund during the Soeharto and post-Soeharto periods, 1989–2009: A political economic analysis of lessons for REDD+, and funded by the World Bank, the European Commission, and AusAID, says that unless major reforms are enacted, including oversight mechanisms, REDD+ runs the risk of befalling the same fate as the failed reforestation fund.

Sepanjang tahun 2009 ini, persoalan lingkungan hidup masih pada seputar upaya mengatasi dampak pemanasan global (global warming). Indonesia, yang memiliki 10 persen dari luas hutan tropis di dunia, sampai sekarang keberadaannya terus terancam. Masih banyak terjadi perusakan hutan yang dilakukan perusahaan-perusahaan besar, yang ironisnya mengantongi izin pengelolaan dari pemerintah. The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), sebuah lembaga riset kehutanan internasional dalam uieb-nya menyebutkan, telah terjadi pengurangan hutan di Indonesia setiap tahunnya sekitar dua juta hektare. Sedangkan data dari Human Right Watch melaporkan, korupsi dalam mengelola hutan di negeri ini mencapai dua miliar dolar AS per tahun.

Around 15 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from the clearing of forests for their timber and for agricultural expansion, mainly in tropical countries. So the long-hoped for agreement on an international system to reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks in developing countries, specifically now called REDD-plus, remains vital to tackling climate change. This along with the commitment for fast track financing from a number of developed countries specifically for REDD last week lends significant momentum going into 2010. A final outcome may happen as early as June at schedule climate talks in Bonn, said Louis Verchot, principal scientist in climate change for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

The small beacon of hope for a legally binding text at the climate talks was the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plan. REDD is a UN-backed scheme that seeks to put a price on the environmental damage caused by forest degradation and allow developing nations to sell “credits” in exchange for not chopping their trees down. Stibniati Atmadja, a research fellow at the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, ttended the Copenhagen talks. She will be observing the implementation of REDD in forest communities in Indonesia as part of a Cifor’s comparative, three-year study across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Nigeria made a strong commitment to the world on the contentious issue of gas flaring just as the rift between negotiators from the developing and developed countries has closed, with substantial progress made, leading to a possible climate change deal. In short, the leaders may sign an agreement on this today. According to a statement by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), though opportunities to use forest for change adaptation and mitigation are exceptionally good, it cautioned that many challenges still lie ahead.