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In this issue
Message from
RUPES Project Office
It
is exciting to be getting back to you after having been silent for a
while. In this edition, we are pleased to be able to share two recent
publications on rewards for environmental services that RUPES has just
completed in collaboration with RECOFTC (Regional Community Forestry
Training Center for Asia and the Pacific).
Also,
we have included an article written by ICRAF researchers on REDD
(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) in the context
of Indonesia, which appeared in The Jakarta Post two weeks ago. Relevant
to discussion on REDD, we provide a link to the report and presentations
from a seminar in Bogor on the potential of reducing emission from
forests and peatlands. Check out the link to IFAD Asia and the Pacific
Division Newsletter for other related articles.
We
invite you to check out the website of the International Symposium on the
interdependencies between upland and lowland agriculture and resource
management to be held by the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart
where presentations will be delivered on the RUPES Project.
In
our References section, you will find a synthesis of three regional
reviews of Payments for Watershed Services (PWS) carried out by USAID
PES in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Links to download the three
reviews are provided.
Happy
reading ...
Aunul
Fauzi
RUPES
Communication Specialist
Top.
Pro-Poor
Payment for Environmental Services: Some Considerations
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Written
collaboratively by Beria Leimona (RUPES) and Erica Lee (RECOFTC),
this policy brief discusses PES and considerations relating
to the enabling conditions to implement a PES mechanism and
how the mechanism can be pro-poor. Before
considering how PES can be pro-poor, the brief discusses
three prerequisites for implementing an effective PES
mechanism: supportive intermediary organizations and
supportive national conditions, such as policies that
promote secure property rights; market exchange; and
environmental conservation.
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The
brief goes on to survey some potential opportunities for
pro-poor PES and discusses constraints to the poor's
participation as well as possible negative side-effects of PES
programs on the poor Recommendations
are made for practitioners and governments on how to address
such concerns. These include strengthening local institutions
and conducting simple and rigorous monitoring methods in order
to reduce transaction costs. It also looks at land tenure as a
reward to include poor people with insecure property rights
and ensure their continued access to resources.
The
brief concludes by emphasizing the important role of
governments in promoting pro-poor PES mechanisms. [Beria
Leimona]
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Top.
Insight
#2: Exploring Payments for Environmental Services
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Published
twice a year by RECOFTC, Insight: Notes from the Field
functions as a
forum for practitioners to share field-level cases and
lessons in Community Forestry (CF) and Community-Based
Natural Resource Management (CBNRM).
The
2nd issue of Insight: Exploring Payments for
Environmental Services provides a brief background on three key concepts within
PES: environmental and economic feasibility; characteristics
of service providers; and opportunities and risks related to
poverty. Cases from
Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, India and the Philippines are
used as illustrations.
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This
issue was developed in collaboration
between RECOFTC, RUPES, Winrock India and SNV
Netherlands Development Organization. [Mikaela
Rosander]
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Top.
REDD,
Green or Gold
An
article on Jakarta Post written by ICRAF researchers
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The
13th COP in Bali decided that REDD is to be part of the
international rules for the post-2012 period. But how this
can be done is not yet clear, according to Beria Leimona and
Meine van Noordwijk of the World Agroforestry Centre in a
recent article in the The Jakarta Post (31/1/08).
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Read
the full article.
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Both
researchers highlighted the proactive role that Indonesia
has played in international negotiations on commitments and
incentives, but they warned that there only two years left
to prove that REDD mechanisms can work.
In
this article, the writers outline how reducing emissions
will require a shift in the balance between forest
conversion and forest protection. They ask the question,
"Can the carbon market play a role in providing
incentives for such a shift?"
Besides
urging readers to recognize the important role that fastwood
and oil palm plantation companies play in reducing carbon
emissions, the writers also remind those companies to adopt
longer-term thinking and position themselves for a tighter
regulatory framework and meeting rising consumer
expectations.
A
conducive policy framework across forestry and agriculture
sectors, that covers all land areas, will be needed before
the private sector can fully play its role to mutual
benefit. [Beria
Leimona]
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Top.
Seminar
on CO2 Emissions from Forest and Peatlands
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Contributing
to the current climate change debate about payments for
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD),
the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Project Indonesia
held a seminar on CO2 Emissions from Forest and Peatlands in
Bogor in November 2007. More than 50 participants from
various government, non-government and research institutions
attended this one day seminar.
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During
the seminar, ASB researchers presented data on carbon stocks
and profitability of land use in the ASB benchmark areas,
and remote sensing data for three provinces of Indonesia.
This data has the potential to help define the space for
realistic, voluntary and conditional rewards for
environmental services in avoiding emissions. Download
report and presentations. [Fahmudin
Agus]
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Top.
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