Reducing Green House Gas Emissions From Oil Palm In Indonesia Lessons From East Kalimantan

Key Messages National and provincial emissions reduction goals and efforts to slow deforestation may come into conflict with provincial and district level economic ambitions based on agricultural development.Around half of existing oil palm concessions in East Kalimantan are on forested and peatland areas. If developed, these plantations will release ~206 MtCO2e into the atmosphere.The expansion of oil palm plantations on currently allocated concessions will lead to the conversion of forested lands and swamp areas, including peatland, and represents a critical source of carbon emissions.To ensure the sustainability of plantation expansion the government needs to undertake a review of all existing plantation permits to ensure that they align with existing sustainability criteria.Green Growth does not present a win-win strategy and therefore requires strong political commitment, and awareness of social and environmental tradeoffs.

Key messages This brief examines two contrasting policy options: the implementation of zero deforestation commitments by the private sector and a complete moratorium on the expansion of large-scale oil palm plantations, and compares them to a situation without policy action.The zero deforestation commitments and the moratorium on large-scale oil palm plantations expansion could reduce cumulative deforestation by 25% and 28%, respectively, compared to a situation without policy action. They could also cut greenhouse gas emissions from land use and land-use change by 13% and 16%, respectively, over the period 2010-2030.Even under the zero-deforestation and moratorium scenarios, Indonesia is projected to increase palm oil production between 124%-97% over 2010-2030, which is partly due to higher production originating from smallholders.Both measures - the zero deforestation commitments and a moratorium of future large-scale oil palm plantations expansion - would be especially beneficial to limit future deforestation in Indonesia in a context in which global demand for palm oil is expected to keep increasing.Foresight tools can equip stakeholders and policy makers with data and information to allow for evidence-based policy making. This will permit planning for reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, and finding options acceptable to all stakeholders involved.

Growing global concern about the environmental costs of economic development resulting from natural resource extraction has sparked interest in a new economic paradigm known as ‘green development’. Indonesia is currently experimenting with the ‘green development’ paradigm and trying to define its meaning and better understand its potential applications. So far, this process has meant a refinement and realignment of existing policy measures that seek to reduce deforestation and GHG emissions. These regulations often face contradictory economic development strategies.

Key messages In Indonesia, early involvement and support for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has led to numerous achievements, but progress has been slower than anticipated. National and subnational REDD+ initiatives are susceptible to political turnover at each election cycle. To ensure its longevity, REDD+ needs to be embedded in national and regional laws, regulations, institutions and other state devices. REDD+ institutionalization in Indonesia has focused on technicalities rather than on directly addressing socioeconomic and political drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The rate of deforestation has decelerated enough to result in two REDD+ payments. However, transformational change in the forestry and broader land-use sector has not progressed far enough. REDD+ is inherently multilevel and multisectoral. However, much information, action, knowledge exchange and decision making on REDD+ is concentrated within relatively few organizations. Transformational change requires that other stakeholders and sectors that impact forests get involved.

CLIMATE IMPACTS ON SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Climate change has emerged as one of the predominant global concerns of the 21st century. Statistics show that the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by about 1.18°C since the late 19th century and the sea levels are rising due to the melting of glaciers. Further rise in the global temperature will have dire consequences for the survival of humans on the planet Earth. There is a need to monitor climatic data and associated drivers of changes to develop sustainable planning. The anthropogenic activities that are linked to climate change need scientific evaluation and must be curtailed before it is too late. This book contributes significantly in the field of sustainable natural resource management linked to climate change. Up to date research findings from developing and developed countries like India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the USA have been presented through selected case studies covering different thematic areas. The book has been organised into six major themes of sustainable natural resource management, determinants of forest productivity, agriculture and climate change, water resource management and riverine health, climate change threat on natural resources, and linkages between natural resources and biotic-abiotic stressors to develop the concept and to present the findings in a way that is useful for a wide range of readers. While the range of applications and innovative techniques is constantly increasing, this book provides a summary of findings to provide the updated information. This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of environmental sciences, remote sensing, geographical information system, meteorology, sociology and policy studies related to natural resource management and climate change.

This book extends the framework of the climate-energy-land nexus to elucidate political, economic, social, and institutional factors and causal mechanisms that stringent climate targets bring about, rather than mitigate a disproportional heavy burden on the forest sector in Indonesia. Assessing climate, energy, agricultural, forest, and transmigration policies, and REDD+ and biochar solutions through a multidisciplinary approach, ranging from biological, agricultural, technological, economic, and institutional lenses, the book identifies the political-economic and socio-technical regimes that cause the crosssectoral transfer of responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions to palm-oil-based biofuel, imposing an excess burden on the forest sector and accelerating indirect land-use change. It also proposes possible countermeasures for agricultural and forest sectors, reconfirming that technical applications and integrated policymaking should trigger the socioeconomic changes that will make transformative change happen in Indonesia. As an analysis of the success, or otherwise, of stringent climate targets, policies, and technological and non-technological measures on the reduction of greenhouse gases, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the fields of environment & sustainability, Asian studies, energy, environment and agriculture, forestry, and agriculture & environmental sciences. It will also appeal to practitioners and policymakers tackling net-zero emissions and land and forest governance.

Plant biomass represents a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is one of the most important greenhouse gases and which is assumed to contribute more than half of the global warming. Establishing tree plantations or perennial crops on degraded land is an effective way to reduce atmospheric carbon by building up terrestrial carbon stocks, not only in the living biomass, but also in the soil. By converting Imperata cylindrica grassland into tree plantations (Acacia mangium or oil palm), aboveground biomass carbon can be increased about 20-fold and below ground biomass carbon up to 8-fold, while soil carbon can almost be doubled.

Key messages The land-use change caused by oil palm expansion results in adverse impacts on ecosystem functions and services provided by natural forests.This study assesses the impacts of oil palm expansion on key ecosystem services and analyzes the trade-offs among ecosystem services under four plausible future land-use scenarios in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia: business as usual, moratorium, zero gross deforestation and sustainable intensification.A trade-off between carbon benefit and habitat quality was observed in the area with low carbon stock. Providing some habitat quality in areas of oil palm expansion enhanced the carbon benefit.A synergy between carbon sequestration and water yield was evident due to oil palm expansion on Dry Rice Land with Mixed Scrub under the zero gross deforestation scenario.Among the four plausible LULC scenarios, zero gross deforestation is the most desirable option for the study area in Central Kalimantan.A successful implementation of zero gross deforestation requires a review of the forest moratorium to encompass all forest types, a clear land-use policy strategy and a detailed land-use plan involving all jurisdictions and engagement of stakeholders.Sustainable intensification is the second-best land use and land cover option for oil palm expansion with an assumed average yield enhancement to 5 tCPO ha-1 yr-1. However, enhancing yield in smallholder farms by 78% is highly challenging. It may be achievable by providing appropriate and adequate technical and management supports to smallholder farms and by ensuring off-take markets for oil palm produced by smallholders.

"One of Indonesia's major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and its greatest contributor to land disputes is the clearing of natural forests and peatlands for oil palm plantations. Weak land governance in Indonesia has facilitated palm oil companies' encroachment on land claimed by transmigrant and settler communities, impacting their rights. [This report] depicts the broader upheaval wrought on rural communities by long-running conflicts with companies, the Indonesian government's failure to protect community land rights, and the lack of adequate consultation, compensation, or remedy for loss of land and livelihood. The report is based on interviews with residents of three transmigrant and settler communities in Kubu Raya regency, West Kalimantan."--Page 4 of cover.