Publication:

Realizing local participation in REDD+ implementation : a case study of Indonesia

The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Land Degradation (REDD+) policy initiative under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted by the Indonesian government in 2007. Aimed at incentivizing developing countries to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and land use, the environmental and social goals of the REDD+ policy design enable a broad appeal in a policy arena prone to conflict. The Cancun Safeguards for REDD+ under UNFCCC Decision 1/CP.16 mandates that in undertaking REDD+ activities, “the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular indigenous peoples and local communities, in the [REDD+] actions” (Principle 4) should be promoted and supported by program implementers. Using a qualitative case study method and Arnstein’s (1967) ‘Ladder of Citizen Participation’ conceptual framework, this study analyzes the typology of local participation in REDD+ implementation in the Indonesian context. It seeks to answer the following research questions: how is local participation realized in REDD+ implementation, to what extent is local participation involved, and what are the challenges constraining local participation in REDD+. The findings suggest that local community participation in the case study is characterized by the tokenism classification in Arnstein’s (1967) ‘Ladder of Citizen Participation’, reflected in the perceived power dynamics within REDD+ design and its inclusion and exclusion tendencies in its implementation. An implementation gap found in the East Kalimantan Results-Based Payment program is the limited scope of local actors in the procedural right to participation, Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), limited information on the role of local communities in implementation and limited timely information on benefit sharing distribution. The transformative potential of REDD+ in improving the participatory rights of local communities is possible at the local level through the facilitation of bottom-up, meaningful participation. Broadly, procedural aspects of participation force a minimum degree of openness. However, it also risks reproducing institutionally dominant business-as-usual perspectives of social justice if it does not improve local community rights by going beyond procedural indicators of participation.