REDD+ in the context of ecosystem management

• Published in: Current opinion in environmental sustainability 2012-12, Vol.4 (6), p.604-611
• Main Authors: Hein, Lars, van der Meer, Peter J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: biodiversity; deforestation; developing-countries; environmental services; forest degradation; greenhouse-gas emissions; implementation; indonesia; payments; tropical forest
• ISSN: 1877-3435; 1877-3443
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2012.09.016

► REDD+ is by itself insufficient to achieve sustainable and efficient forest management. ► Implementing REDD+ also requires land use planning, monitoring and enforcement. ► An ecosystem approach can support REDD+ by showing stakeholder benefits and ecosystem dynamics. ► Forestry can compete with oil palm in Kalimantan if REDD+ yields net revenues of US$ 3–7/tonCO2 depending on soil type. The design and implementation of REDD+ projects requires understanding the local ecological, economic and social context. This paper analyzes how REDD+ influences the context of ecosystem management, from both a conceptual and an ecosystem-scale perspective. We analyze how REDD+ changes the economic interests in ecosystem management for different stakeholders, and present a case study demonstrating the economic benefits of sustainable forest use versus oil palm plantation in Indonesia. We also analyze the economic costs of carbon emissions from land use conversion, and show that in Kalimantan, Indonesia, net revenues from REDD+ need to be US$ 3/tonCO2 to allow sustainable forest use to compete with oil palm on peat, and US$ 7/tonCO2 for mineral soil. Subsequently we present four insights from our ecosystem analysis relevant for REDD+.