Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Prospects for REDD+ in swidden landscapesOle Mertz, Jean-Christophe Castella, Thoumthone Vongvisouk, Neil Dawson,

Rikke Brandt Broegaard, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Guillaume Lestrelin, Sithong Thongmanivong

• International conventions – biodiversity, climate• Global consumer pressure – sustainable production, certified

products• International conservation NGOs and development agencies –

double roles?• National and international agri-businesses• National policy targets

• land sparing seen as economic development• land sharing the traditional practice, ignored

by policy• … but not always

• Science?

Policies on shifting cultivation (SC) in SEAsia

Country SC Illegal by lawSC de facto illegal

by indirect legislation

SC legal, but restricted to certain areas and/or short

fallows

Agricultural and forestry

policies aim to stop SC

SC legal and without

restrictions

Bangladesh X     X  Bhutan X     X  Brunei       X  Cambodia     X    China       X  India X   X X  Indonesia       X  Laos     X X  Malaysia   X   X  Myanmar       X  Nepal   X      Papua New Guinea         XPhilippines X X X X  Sri Lanka     X X  Thailand X X   X  Timor-Leste       X  Vietnam     X X  

Land use change in northern Laos (and elsewhere in SEAsia)

Will incentive-based REDD+ payments stop deforestation?

Deforestation in northern Laos = about 40t CO2 ha-1 year-1

Carbon price: 1 ton CO2 = 10 US$ (World Bank 2015)

REDD+ annual income: 400 US$ ha-1 year-1

Rubber ≈ 6,000-8,000 US$ ha-1 year-1 (2012 data)

What will it take to conserve forests and improve livelihoods?

But first some further obstacles

This sign says that Homephan village in Huaphan province has ended the cutting of forest for the purpose of shifting cultivation

Land sparing in Laos policies: replace shifting cultivation to spare forests, e.g. through REDD+

But also realize ‘land capital’ with agricul-tural investments

Obstacles for REDD+ in Laos

• Contradictory policies: REDD+ and biodiversity conservation land development and investment

• Land tenure has not been clarified by multiple land use planning excercises, e.g.:• previous land allocation overruled by revised protected area boundary• only 3 out of 76 villages had land titled• … and here only house plots, not agricultural land

• REDD+ implementation stalled by institutional re-organizations and associated lacking human resource capacity

• Local authorities hesitant to monitor and report on policy compliance when policies are contradictory (and poorly understood, such as REDD+)

• But this gives room for maneuvering for both civil servants and local communities and the situation is not necessarily perceived as undesirable…

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Dramatic conversions where both forests and mosaic shifting cultivation landscapes disappear

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Importance of mosaic landscapes for livelihoods

Khorn Ngua and Son Kua: Shifting cultivation with rice and maizePhon Song: Continuous maize cultivation

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Importance of mosaic landscapes for nutrition

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Conclusions

• Shift focus from strict conservation of forest to landscapes

• REDD+ cannot do the job alone – other ecosystem services are essential for local people’s health and livelihood and need to be valued

• Essentially this calls for a political recognition of the multifunctional landscape in Southeast Asia:mosaics that integrate protected forest, productive forest, extensive and intensive agriculture

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

References:Broegaard RB, Rasmussen LV, Dawson N, Mertz O, Vongvisouk T. (in review) Wild food collection and nutrition under

commercial agriculture expansion in agriculture-forest landscapes. Resubmitted to Forest Policy and EconomicsBroegaard RB, Vongvisouk T, Mertz O (in press): Contradictory Land Use Plans and Policies in Laos: Tenure Security and the

Threat of Exclusion. World Development, online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.008Rasmussen LV, Christensen AE, Danielsen D, Dawson N, Martin A, Mertz O, Sikor T, Xaydongvanh P (in press): From food to

pest: Conversion factors determine switches between ecosystem services and disservices. Ambio, online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0813-6  

Rasmussen LV, Mertz O, Christensen AE, Danielsen F, Dawson N, Xaydongvanh P (2016): A combination of methods needed to assess the actual use of provisioning ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services 17:75-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.11.005

Vongvisouk T, Lestrelin G, Castella J-C, Mertz O, Broegaard RB, Thongmanivong S (in press): REDD+ on hold: Lessons from an emerging institutional setup in Laos. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apv.12134

Vongvisouk T, Broegaard RB, Mertz O, Thongmanivong S (2016): Rush for cash crops and forest protection: Neither land sparing nor land sharing. Land Use Policy 55:182–192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.04.001

Thank You!