Sowing Seeds for REDD+

Global partnerships that support reducing emissions for deforestation and forest degradation including reforestation (REDD+) have the potential to contribute not only to climate change mitigation but also to biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation (1). These potentials can be realized by deliberate targeting of REDD+ programs at regions that will maximize both emissions reduction and biodiversity conservation ("Harnessing carbon payments to protect biodiversity, " O. Venter et al., Brevia, 4 December 2009, p. 1368). Indonesia is an obvious target. The Norwegian government's recent pledge of US$1 billion toward REDD+ in Indonesia provides a ray of hope for the country's imperiled forests (2). However, the Oslo pact is short-sighted in that it provides no funding for forest restoration or sustainable forestry (3). Forest destruction in Southeast Asia—Indonesia in particular—is among the most rapid and devastating in the world (4). To reverse this trend, we urgently need to reduce the rate of deforestation and forest degradation. We ultimately also need to restore degraded forests, and maintain these forests through multiple and sustainable uses (5–7). Restoration of degraded forests is facilitated by enrichment planting with native tree species such as those in th