Search

Based on ethnography from Lio, Indonesia, I explore effects on values, categories, and practices that followed the introduction of Catholicism to the area. Hierarchy is treated both as a model of value, conveyed through asymmetrical relations, and as a system of social organization. Hierarchy is employed as a way to order elements of value, to include the social-political sphere of stratification, and as a conceptual tool to analyze the relationship between adat (cosmology) and the Catholic Church. In adat, hierarchical relations constitute a means of social and ritual organization and practice in which the whole is considered superior to the individual, while Catholicism is based on an ideology of egalitarianism. Unlike adat, which pervades every aspect of life, the Catholic religion in Lioland occupies only a delineated niche of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) started as a global project aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by protecting tropical forests. At the same time, several so-called co-benefits were listed in the original documents, such as biodiversity and other environmental services, poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods, and good governance. I argue that REDD+ quickly became a project in which these co-benefits have emerged to be of central concern and that the rights of affected forest populations today dominate much of the REDD+ discourse. One reason for the redirected focus of REDD+ can be attributed to the activities of international and national environmental and human rights organisations. While this has arguably contributed to a process of democratisation in Indonesia, it has also slowed down the implementation of readiness projects. Taking my example from the UN-REDD initiative in Central Sulawesi, I examine some reasons why it has been difficult to establish the proposed five REDD sites in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) is a new and very ambitious global programme which seeks to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering performance-based payment to reduce CO2emissions from forested lands. From an initial perception of REDDF+ as a relatively straightforward forestry project, it has turned into one that is increasingly focusing on the rights of the people who live in the forests. This is largely due to pressure from international and national environmental and human rights NGOs. A result of their activities is that several of the original co-benefits to REDD+, such as alleviating poverty, tenure reform, improving local livelihoods and forest governance, and protecting rights have become major concerns. The introduction of REDD+ in Indonesia is used as an example to highlight some challenges encountered in its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]