A REDD dawn in India

The mechanism of REDD has not yet been officially implemented in India, though there is considerable scope of its implementation, considering the extent of India’s forest cover. However, there is also potential for its misuse, as well as plenty of challenges.

Things are not yet bright and rosy for REDD in India, but the day is long and promising. Theoretically, REDD in India can work like any other country. A particular area of forest is chosen, consultants appointed and work goes on according to approved norms. Before long money will exchange hands and the forest will be saved from being chopped down.

Everyone- politicians, locals, conservationists and businesses are happy.

India’s unique issues

It however does not really work so simply, especially in a complex country like India. There are several factors that the authorities need to take care of, apart from REDD’s three basic requirements of additionality, leakage and permanence, especially in the Indian context.

• Corruption is one big factor. Anyone knows that where big money (thousands of crores) is involved there is always corruption. REDD projects are typically worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at the minimum and if this money does not go where it is intended to, the entire mechanism runs the risk of becoming another government scheme. This would be very unfortunate, as only 15% of government funding is effective.
• A unique problem in India concerning REDD is law and order. Most of India’s densest forests are in the central and the north eastern parts of the country. Incidentally these areas are plagued by insurgency and separatism, notable actors being the Maoists and the insurgent groups in the NE. Forests where REDD projects are implemented needs constant attention and this is not possible when they are virtual battlegrounds.
• The third problem is population pressure and agriculture requirements. In case the financial assessment is not done correctly and the incentives to conserve are not high enough forests might still be felled despite REDD funding.

We only need to look at the deforestation of REDD protected forests and their replacement by palm oil plantations in Malaysia to understand that it can very well happen anywhere.

Case Study: Palm oil plantations in Malaysia

In addition to these problems there are other issues common to other countries that keep conservationists and environmentalists up at night. One problem is UN’s definition of forests in context of REDD. According to this definition, forests can be as small as 0.05-1 hectare in size, where at least 10%-30% of the area is covered with trees reaching a minimum height of 2-5m.

Taking advantage of this, loophole countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have declared industrial monoculture plantations of rubber and palm oil as forests.  Thus, old growth forests with incredible biodiversity and supporting thousands of species have been cleared to make way for these plantations.

With several biodiversity hotspots in India, there is a genuine fear that this similar kind of manipulation will lead to large scale extinction of endangered species.

On paper, however Malaysia can show its forest cover increasing and consequently earns funds earmarked for REDD. Ironically, Indonesia, which is following the footsteps of Malaysia by declaring palm oil plantations as forests, has the highest deforestation rate in the world at a loss of 51 sq km of forests daily.

Ironically, this hasn’t escaped the attention of The Guinness Book of World Records, which has made Indonesia (in)famous in its 2008 edition for this record! Indonesia’s problems are corruption and poor forest management, and these could be the Achilles’ heel for India too. We have lost over a third of our forest cover (3.68 lakh hectares out of nearly 11 lakh hectares) over two decades to encroachment and agriculture.

Pre-requisites for success of REDD

Keeping all these issues in context REDD will fulfill its goals in India only if-

• Old growth forests are safeguarded and biodiversity is not threatened
• The indigenous forest dwellers and local communities become a part of the entire process and have sufficient incentives to ensure that the projects are successful, often by ensuring a steady source of income.
• Funds are not utilized in setting up monoculture plantations which are also cash crops
• Effective mechanisms are developed to quantify reductions of emissions and assess the correct monetary value of a forest.
• Sufficient funds, irrespective of whether it comes from national or international source are made available.
• Each stage of a REDD project, from approval to completion is transparent, and everyone connected with it is held strictly accountable.

Officially there are no active REDD protected forests in India, though several developers and agencies have evinced interest. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, India’s forests sequester approximately 24,000 metric tons of CO2 worth Rs. 6,00,000 crores. Increases in cost of carbon are going to push that amount up even more.  This is the cash cow everyone is hoping to milk and that is not necessarily bad, provided the cow is cared for enough so that the milk keeps flowing. 

References:

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0222-palmoil.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090819/full/news.2009.842.html
http://www.forestry-invest.com/2010/palm-oil-plantations-now-classified-as-forests/347
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0504-indo.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_encroachment-led-to-substantial-loss-of-forest-cover_1367201
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/SFR2009-ExecSummary-FINAL.pdf