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In a time of increasing land enclosures sparked by large-scale environmental initiatives and agricultural expansion, this paper examines local and global contestations over the value of forest on an Indonesian forest frontier. Engaging with recent debates on carbon forestry, the paper problematises the emerging initiatives of ' Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' known as REDD+ in the province of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The paper argues that the general rush to implement REDD+ without intimate knowledge of the political landscape of resource struggle is in danger of generating new enclosures of land that may be easily appropriated by local elites, thus excluding less fortunate sections of local society. The paper shows how divergent interpretations of REDD+ are triggering land disputes, and how powerful actors readily appropriate REDD+ discourses as a tool to support divergent claims of land ownership. Government and villagers, through overlapping and contradictory engagements, negotiate REDD+ initiatives with global environmental actors and private plantation companies. The paper highlights the implications of these local realities for the successes of REDD+. The Kalimantan case highlights some of the dilemmas of carbon mitigation initiatives experienced in frontier regions throughout Southeast Asia, places that have become prime battlefronts of large-scale climate change initiatives and agrarian expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the process for establishing a 'village agreement' using the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership ( KFCP) as a case study. REDD+ is designed as a 'performance-based' mechanism and requires a contractual agreement between the parties involved. Since its implementation will affect the life of forest-dependent communities, it is vital that villagers have sufficient ability to negotiate their interests during the agreement process. This paper investigates the degree of 'social learning' essential for developing actors' capacity to negotiate rules and interests with outsiders involved in the agreement process (between KFCP and the seven villages involved) and how this meshes with notions of 'participation'. It found that while 'social learning' occurred as a result of the well-designed participatory process conducted by KFCP, villagers' ability to secure their interests was influenced by a learning experience accumulated from their previous engagement with several development/conservation projects. This finding contributes to literature by emphasising how historical context plays a significant role in the success of present learning and the efficacy or otherwise of a contractual agreement. Therefore historical aspects should be taken into account in site selection and the design of future REDD+ projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests play an essential role in climate change mitigation by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing carbon in biomass. Carbon sequestration can be increased by the extension of rotation cycles in existing plantation forests. This study examines the cost‐effectiveness of the remuneration scheme employed by Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), a commonly used carbon accounting method based on the average amount of carbon stored in the forest. We compare the net present value of carbon remuneration under VCS with that of a scheme that remunerates actual carbon storage in each year which we call "current carbon accounting." We use data for an Acacia mangium plantation in Indonesia where the forestry sector is expected to contribute more than half of the reductions of carbon emissions according to Indonesia's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. For our baseline scenario, we find, first, that the payments needed to incentivise additional carbon storage under VCS are considerably higher than under current carbon accounting. Second, the inefficiency is more pronounced at lower discount rates. Third, recent prices reported for VCS forest credits are not sufficient to incentivise forest managers to lengthen the forest rotation in Indonesian plantation forests. Recommendations for Resource Managers: Older forests store more carbon. Using a multiple rotations model our study determines how carbon payments incentivise forest managers to lengthen the forest rotation and, hence, to sequester and store more carbon. Forest managers should consider carbon remuneration options in their forest management decisions, in particular when choosing the length of the rotation period.Optimal forest management is impacted by the design of the remuneration scheme. It matters in particular whether carbon sequestration or carbon storage is paid for.Fund managers can incentivise larger amounts of carbon storage through careful design of the carbon remuneration scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of changing rationales and tactics among actors engaged in mobilising private finance for Indonesia's emergent Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation ( REDD+) programme. Despite limited flows of private finance so far, private sector actors have been responsible for a great deal of development and innovation in the forest carbon sector in Indonesia, and have thus played - and continue to play - an important part in shaping the country's REDD+ programme. Drawing on extended field research and interviews with key actors engaged with REDD+ in Indonesia, we identify a variety of private investor motivations, strategies and tactics, many of which depart considerably from the common understanding of REDD+ as avoided deforestation funded through carbon offsets. As non-state actors increasingly shape emerging REDD+ projects, they assume important roles as agents of environmental governance - working through a variety of private market and hybrid modes of forest/climate governance. We describe four general modes of engagement, centred around: investment in REDD+ verified emissions reductions; corporate social responsibility; sustainable commodities; and impact investment. The research thus contributes to an improved understanding of the nature of private REDD+ finance in Indonesia, and the implications, potential and limits of private, market-based climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The REDD + ( Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) partnership works to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions by protecting forests in developing countries through positive incentives. It is regarded as an essential component of the post-2012 climate regime to stabilize GHG emissions and engage developing countries in worldwide mitigation endeavours. This study focuses on the gap between agricultural revenue and REDD + compensation through the construction of several scenarios that explore the impacts of possible carbon price ranges.Three scenarios that reflect different potential policies are examined: (1) current carbon trading; (2) carbon trading with all forestry activities; and (3) carbon trading with all countries participating gradually over the coming decades. Data for developing the scenarios were obtained through a case study in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, by interrogating the potential for revenue by expanding agricultural land. The results indicate that REDD + payments could not effectively compensate land users for their opportunity cost of deforestation, making it difficult for the governments to ensure that REDD + money 'reaches the ground' in terms of balancing the agricultural revenue of land users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]