THINKING beyond the canopy

Land Tenure and REDD+:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Anne Larson, Maria Brockhaus, William Sunderlin, Amy Duchelle, Andrea Babon, Therese Dokken, IAP Resosudarmo, Galia Selaya

and Abdon Awono

ISEE, June 18, 2012

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Under what conditions does REDD+ present a threat or opportunity for local land/ forest tenure rights?• Good: opportunity• Bad: communities

marginalized and/or REDD does not work

• Ugly: threat to local rights and livelihoods

Central questions

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Overview

Why tenure matters for REDD+ Methods Research results Taking stock Moving forward

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Why tenure matters for REDD+

1. The essence of REDD is to reward carbon sequestration and compensate lost opportunities (who will be rewarded?)

2. The reward is conditional on compliance (who will be held accountable?)

3. Unclear or non-formal tenure may lead to forest people’s exclusion, and to land grabbing

4. Certain forest uses will be prohibited (FPIC? Increased hardships?)

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Why tenure matters: the ugly“No Rights No REDD” movement

REDD+ has the potential to result in “the biggest land grab of all time… threatening the very survival of indigenous peoples and local communities”

• Still no binding commitment to rights or safeguards• Land tenure insecurity• Govt failure to insure Free prior and informed consent (FPIC)

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Research Methods

CIFOR Global Comparative Study

National- Country profiles- Media analysis- Policy network analysis

Project level- Interviews with 19 project proponents - Village focus groups in 71 project villages

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National level results

Tenure problems and policies table: substantial problems, weak solutions if any But popular topic in stakeholder interviews and

position statements, however… only rhetoric? Media analysis of 500+ articles: largely absent as

main focus of article Policy network analysis: the organizations

concerned with tenure are not influential

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Project level results

Tenure problems and policies table:• substantial problems• substantial local project proponent

initiatives, but… limited by national framework & lack of national-level attention to the problem

• less than half of proponents satisfied with results to date, all agree more to be done

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Table. Land conflict or insecurity

Country

Villages with an area of land in conflict(number & %)

Villages with tenure insecurity over at least a portion of village lands(number & %)

Brazil 7 (44%) 8 (50%)

Cameroon 5 (83%) 6 (100%)

Tanzania 6 (24%) 8 (32%)

Indonesia 11 (55%) 17 (85%)

Vietnam 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

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Taking stock: some interesting developments?

For the first time, tenure is broadly recognized as important for REDD+

New attention given to the issue of local rights Bold statements by Indonesia’s REDD task force

chair and others Tenure seen not just an issue of rights but also REDD

effectiveness -> incentive? REDD is meeting resistance from big deforesters Carbon cowboy scandals (e.g. PNG) are being revealed

and reversed (watchdog organizations)

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Tenure for whom?Tenure issue Opportunity Risk

Lack of clarity on ownership, overlapping claims

Rights clarified and secured for local people

Rights secured to more powerful parties/ elite capture

Customary rights v state ownership

Rights and recognition of traditional land distribution

State asserts its formal rights,controls process,imposes rules

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The way forward?

Who will ally with whom? What role for communities?

What role with “the state” play? Who is willing to lead in…• Challenges to business as usual in forests

(deforestation)• Challenges to business as usual in forest

tenure rights

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Good, bad and ugly

Paste photos???

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Thank you!