Sumatra Forest Carbon Partnership launched

Earlier this week, Australian Climate Change and Water Minister Sen. Penny Wong and Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan announced the establishment of an A$30 million (US$27 million) Sumatra Forest Carbon Partnership. The project will focus on reducing deforestation and degradation in Sumatra's Jambi province, which in recent years has lost more than two-thirds of its forests to illegal loggers, slash-and-burn farming, fire and palm oil and pulp plantations. Funds to be provided under the Partnership will be used to address the causes of deforestation in Jambi and to help rehabilitate deforested or degraded land. Specific pilot sites have yet to be determined, but will likely cover various forest concession types. Key issues to be addressed will be the development of alternative sustainable livelihoods and the design of incentive payment schemes for local communities.

The Sumatra project represents the latest to emerge under the Indonesia - Australia Forest Carbon Partnership signed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 13 June 2008. This broader partnership includes three main components: (i) policy development and capacity building, (ii) technical support for forest carbon monitoring and measurement, and (iii) demonstration activities.  The Sumatra Partnership joins the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership, launched in 2007, as a second major Australia-Indonesia REDD demonstration programme.  The Partnerships appear to be complementary, given that the Kalimantan project will focus on peat soils while the Sumatra project will focus on mineral-rich soils. Both projects are aimed at helping Indonesia and Australia learn lessons in the design and implementation of REDD programmes. 

The Indonesia - Australia Partnership represents a major element of Australia's International Forest Carbon Initiative.  With this initiative, Australia has become part of the top tier of REDD supporting donors, together with Norway in particular. Both Norway and Australia have focused support on specific countries; in Norway's case, Guyana and Tanzania have been major partners, whereas Indonesia has played this role in the case of Australian cooperation. It is unclear yet whether and to what extent the US, with its initial $1 billion REDD commitment announced at Copenhagen, will attempt to focus its funding on a limited number of target countries.