Will Indonesia be successful in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions with REDD+? The threat of organizational fragmentation

REDD+ schemes are likely to be important parts of climate change mitigation strategies for developing countries in a post-Kyoto framework. Many tropical forest countries have been preparing their REDD+ structures in anticipation of the requirements for REDD+ investment. Indonesia, as one of the main REDD+ supporters, is struggling to establish its governance framework and REDD+ infrastructure while waiting for the REDD+ mechanism to be ready for implementation at the global level. Demonstration activities are being conducted and several policy documents and regulations have been released since 2007. However, some issues remain outstanding, including land tenure, institutional fragmentation, forest financing and details of project methodologies raising concerns as to whether a REDD+ scheme can be implemented to effectively reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines Indonesia’s efforts to remove those barriers and proposes some options for policy improvement. Among other issues, reduction of institutional fragmentation should be the highest priority action for Indonesia in the short term. With a clear institutional framework, REDD+ implementation will be easier to manage and potentially increase investor confidence in REDD+ projects in Indonesi