A very real and practical contribution? Lessons from the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Olbrei, Erik | Howes, Stephen

Note: [] Erik Olbrei ([email protected]) is undertaking doctoral studies at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, Canberra. He completed a Master of Climate Change qualification by research at the ANU in 2011. Stephen Howes ([email protected]) is Professor of Economics and Director, Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. For assistance and comments, we are indebted to and would like to thank: Ichlas Al Zaqie, Grahame Applegate, Pep Canadell, George Collett, Robin Davies, Jacqui DeLacy, Leonard Digna, Elfian Effendi, Erwinsyah, Ibu Frionny, Hapsoro, Dan Heldon, Bill Hellier, Herwasono, Dr Yusurum Jagau, Tim Jessup, Pak Josef, Frank Jotzo, Rogier Klavier, Dr Suwido Limin, Peter McCawley, Brendan Mackey, Nick Mawdsley, Medrilzam, Abu Meridian, Julia Newton-Howes, Norhadie Karben, Eko Pranadhita, Yuyu Rahayu, John Raison, Budi Rario, Jhanson Regalino, Angi Rohan, Arie Rompas, Pak Saribi, Neil Scotland, Pak Suhada, Endang Suyatmi, Luca Tacconi, Ben Tular, and Natalia Yaya. We would like to thank AusAID for assisting us to visit the project site and for providing access to project documents. Additional thanks to the editor of this journal and the anonymous referees for their comments. For a full list of persons consulted, see the Annex to the Discussion Paper version of this paper. (Erik Olbrei and Stephen Howes, 2012, A very real and practical contribution? Lessons from the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership, Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper 16, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra. Available at <http://devpolicy.org/a-very-real-and-practical-contribution-lessons-from-the-kalimantan-forests-and-climate-partnership/>.) Responsibility for the content of the paper rests solely with the authors. Second, slow progress made in implementing the KFCP (and other REDD projects), when juxtaposed against the continued rapid rate of land conversion in Indonesia, suggests that the current approach is not working. There is no easy solution. Reducing deforestation in Indonesia is a difficult task because the drivers of deforestation—which range from weak governance to a strong industry lobby and the attractive economics of palm oil—are strong and difficult to tackle. If it is worth continuing, then the focus on pilots and processes which has characterized Australia's engagement in Indonesia's forestry sector in recent years should be re-oriented towards a more ambitious engagement. This should be supported by a vigorous high-level policy dialogue and at least the realistic prospect of a large amount of public funds.

Abstract: On 9 September 2007, Australian government ministers and the Indonesian president announced a A$100 million Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP). This would involve protecting 70,000 hectares of peat forests, reflooding 200,000 hectares of dried peatland, and planting 100 million trees in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Since then, the ambitions of the KFCP have been quietly but drastically scaled back. The area expected to be reflooded by the project is now just over 10 per cent of the original target. And little progress has been made on the ground. Four years on, blocking of the large canals required for reflooding has yet to commence, and only 50,000 trees have been planted. What has happened to what was labelled at its launch as “a very real and very practical contribution”, one that would yield “immediate and tangible results”? We analyse the KFCP both as an aid “announceable” and as a REDD project, and reach two main conclusions. First, the KFCP illustrates the damage that an emphasis on “announcing” new projects, and a lack of attention to reporting on project progress, can cause to aid. Not enough has been done to publicly reposition the KFCP as a much smaller, demonstration project.

DOI: 10.3233/CL-2012-059

Journal: Climate Law, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 103-137, 2012