Chapter 2. Development of a National REDD-plus System in 
                                                        Indonesia 
                
                
                                             Henry Scheyvens and Agus Setyarso1 
                
               Note: This chapter is extracted from the forthcoming IGES report “Developing National REDD-
               plus Systems: Progress, Challenges and Ways Forward”. 
                
               Introduction 
               REDD-plus (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of 
               forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forest, and enhancement of forest carbon 
               stocks), a concept absent from Indonesia’s Forestry Long Term Development Plan 2006-2025, 
               has in the short space of a few years become a priority not only for the forestry sector but for 
               Indonesia’s national climate change strategy. This reflects the immense volume of greenhouse 
               gas (GHG)  emissions associated with forest destruction  in Indonesia,  the relatively low 
               abatement costs that the forestry sector is thought to offer, and the expectation that REDD-
               plus could generate large financial inflows. The potential for tree planting to increase the 
               nation’s carbon sequestration capacity and the potential co-benefits of REDD-plus, such as bio-
               diversity conservation, are also reasons for why the concept has attracted so much attention. 
               Mitigation and adaption to climate change are now listed as one of the Ministry of Forestry’s 
               eight priorities for the forestry sector for 2010-2014. 
                
               Box 1. Forestry sector priorities, 2010-2014  
                     1.  Strengthening forest designation to secure forest areas 
                     2.  Rehabilitation of degraded forest and [improving carrying capacity of] 
                        watershed 
                     3.  Forest protection and fire management 
                     4.  Conservation of biological diversity 
                     5.  Revitalisation of forest utilisation and forest industries 
                     6.  Empowerment of indigenous peoples and local communities 
                     7.  Mitigation and adaptation to climate change 
                     8.  Strengthening forest institutions                                               
                  
               Source: Siswanto (2010). 
                                                                     
               1
                 Dr. Henry Scheyvens serves as the Director of the Natural Resources Management Group at the Institute for 
               Global Environmental Strategies (Japan). Dr. Agus Setyarso is based at the National Forestry Council of Indonesia as 
               the Commissioner on Forest and Economic issues. 
                 
               The total forested area in Indonesia is estimated to be 137.09 million ha2 covering 
               approximately 70% of the country (MoFor 2008). Indonesia has the world’s third largest area of 
               tropical forest and the most species-rich forests in Asia (World Bank 2006).  Forestry has 
               contributed 3 – 4% of gross domestic product over the past ten years (ibid.) and about 120 
               million people have been defined as forest-dependent (Ginting 2000 in Down to Earth 2002). 
               However, Indonesia’s forest resources are not contributing as they should to poverty reduction, 
               economic and social development, and environmental sustainability. Forests are threatened 
               with degradation, fragmentation and destruction, and a quarter of the state forest area has no 
               tree cover (Contreras-Hermosilla and Fay 2005). Indonesia continues to experience high annual 
               rates of forest loss (Fig. 1).  
                
                                       Figure 1. Deforestation rate, 2000-2005 (ha/yr) 
                                 2500000
                                 2000000
                                 1500000
                                 1000000
                                  500000
                                       0
                                           2000-2001 2001 -20022002 -20032003 -20042004 -2005
                                                                                                 
                                                      Source: MoFor (2008). 
                
               Forest management issues are likely to received greater attention now that President Susilo 
               Bambang Yudhoyono has made climate change mitigation and adaptation national priorities for 
               Indonesia. Indonesia was one of the 26 countries to sign the Copenhagen accord in December 
               2009, and in doing so committed itself to submitting an emissions reduction target to the 
               United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by 31 January 2010. It has 
               set targets of 26% of emissions reductions by 2020, and 41% with international support. In its 
               submission, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) explained that these targets would be achieved 
               through Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) on seven issues/sectors – 
               deforestation, peat land, sustainable energy sources, energy efficiency, public transport and 
               waste management – though it expects the major contribution to come from the forest sector 
               (including peat lands), with  land use change, forestry and peat fires understood to be 
                                                                     
               2
                 This figure includes marine conservation reserves. The terrestrial forest area is 133.7  million ha (MoFor 2008).  
               responsible for over half of the national GHG emissions (Fig. 2). Of the 0.767 giga tons (Gt) of 
               GHG emissions reductions that it estimates as necessary to achieve the 26% target, through the 
               Second National Communication the GOI explains that it expects forestry to provide 0.392 Gt, 
               or about 51% of the total, and peat lands to contribute 0.280 Gt, or about 36.5% of the total. 
               The new Minister of Forestry, Zulkifli Hasan, who assumed his position on October 2009, has 
               assigned a special think tank team composed of eight experts to advise on actions to contribute 
               to the national 26% emissions reduction target, amongst other issues.   
                
               Indonesia has been active in the international negotiations on REDD-plus and has been 
               described as  an “epicentre” for REDD-plus activities. In 2009, the  GOI confirmed its 
               participation in two international initiatives  to support REDD-plus readiness activities:  the 
               Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) managed by World Bank and the UN-REDD Program. 
               At  the national level, various activities are underway to formulate a REDD-plus strategy, a 
               number of departments have taken up the issue of REDD-plus, a legal framework to regulate 
               REDD-plus has been established,  and work on a national reference emission level  and on 
               establishing a system to monitor GHG removals and emissions from forests is under way. At the 
               sub-national level, several provincial governors are strong supporters of the REDD-plus concept 
               and have issued decrees, established working groups, and encouraged the involvement of 
               external actors to promote REDD-plus activities. REDD-plus demonstration activities and 
               projects3 are either in the design phase or at early implementation stages across much of 
               Indonesia. International support for Indonesia’s readiness and demonstration activities is strong 
               (see Appendix).   
                
                              Figure 2. National GHG emissions for year 2000, Indonesia (CO2e) 
                            1400000
                            1200000
                                                                                              Energy
                            1000000
                             800000                                                           Industry
                          Gg 600000                                                           Agriculture
                             400000                                                           Waste
                             200000                                                           LUCF
                                  0                                                           Peat Fire
                                       2000     2001    2002     2003     2004    2005
                                                                                                          
               Source: Indonesia Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
               Change (UNFCCC): Summary for Policy Makers. Nov. 2009. Note: No figures for LUCF for 2005. 
                                                                     
               3
                 We make a distinction between “demonstration activities” (REDD-plus projects formally endorsed by the Ministry 
               of Forestry as demonstration  activities) and REDD-plus “projects” (projects not formally endorsed as 
               demonstration activities).  
       
      This paper focuses on the development of the national REDD-plus system in Indonesia. It 
      describes and analyses the progress that has been made on various aspects of this system and 
      some of the outstanding challenges that must be met for Indonesia to be able to claim that it is 
      achieving real, long-term emissions reductions and carbon stock enhancement in the forest 
      sector. This paper covers the development of the REDD-plus strategy, REDD-plus organisations 
      and institutions, reference emission level, architecture for monitoring/accounting, reporting 
      and verification, and REDD-plus payment and payment distribution. The objective of this paper 
      is to provide a comprehensive yet succinct description of the development of the national 
      REDD-plus system, as well as the challenges it faces, and to identify critical issues that now 
      require attention. A limitation of this paper is that REDD-plus activities in Indonesia are now so 
      varied and numerous, taking place at both national and sub-national levels, that not all can be 
      described in detail.  
       
      The information analysed in this paper was gathered through a literature review and through 
      interviews with officials, both at national and sub-national levels, representatives of non-
      governmental organisations (NGOs), and other forest stakeholders in Indonesia conducted by 
      the authors during the course of their work.    
       
      For readers not familiar with the international negotiations on REDD-plus, attention should be 
      drawn to the fact that the negotiations on “REDD” have been expanded to “REDD-plus” and this 
      expanded concept is supported by the GOI. This paper uses both terms – REDD and REDD-plus – 
      according to how the activities that are reviewed were/are intended.  
       
      REDD-plus strategy 
      This section describes the evolution of Indonesia’s REDD-plus strategy and identifies some of 
      the challenges that must be met. Recent scenario analysis, which can contribute to the 
      development of a national REDD-plus strategy by identifying the relative importance of policy 
      interventions in terms of mitigation potential and abatement costs, is also reviewed.    
       
      Reflecting its mandate to govern the nation’s state forest lands, the Ministry of Forestry (MoFor) 
      has the main responsibility for developing the national REDD-plus strategy in Indonesia. In 2007, 
      MoFor developed the concept of REDDI (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest 
      Degradation in Indonesia) and, at a parallel event at the 13th Convention of the Parties (COP) to 
      the UNFCCC in December of the same year, officially launched Indonesia’s REDD (now REDD-
      plus)  roadmap, which includes readiness and transition (capacity building, demonstration