In a May 14 piece for Mongabay.com” Rhett Butler reports on anew carbon deal struck between the government of the Indonesian province of Papua and an Australian financial firm. Thedeal would create a forestry-based carbon finance project modeled after the ReducedEmissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) financing mechanism.The carbon project could potentially encompass more than one million hectaresof forestland on the island of New Guinea. Significantly”the project aims to establish “a perpetual financial base for local communities”by compensating them for their efforts to conserve the forest.

The deal emerges in the wake of Papuan Provincial Governor BarnabasSuebu’s December 2007 moratorium on logging” which he declared in part becausehe hoped conservation would lead to more secure livelihoods for local people. “Conversionof these spectacular forests to agribusiness would be a great loss”” GovernorSuebu said. “I hope this approach can provide a new development path for theforests and people of the Province of Papua.”

As deforestation’s role in contributing to global greenhousegas emissions has become increasingly clear” carbon projects that implement theREDD financing mechanism have gained momentum. Deforestation accounts forapproximately one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide” an alarmingfigure that highlights the importance of incentivizing conservation. However” REDD financing schemes are not a panacea. Clearly defined land rights and legally-established benefit flows are just some of the important prerequisites for REDD to achieve positive human outcomes.

Read Butler’sarticle in its entirety here.

Learn more about REDD here.