Daniel Murdiyarso
March 2015
Biodiversity and Carbon
Conservation in the Face of
Oil-palm Development in Indonesia

• Jambi and beyond
• Biodiversity loss – at all levels
• In the name of development
• Climate change is here and now
• When enough is enough?
• The way forward
Outline

Jambi 20 years ago…..
Murdiyarso et al. (2002)

Sumber: Danielsen et al. (2009)
• Only Pteridophytes increased
• Lianas, epiphytes and other
palms disappear
• No specialist group was found
Source: Danielsen et al. (2009)
Biodiversity loss:
Ptridophytes

Biodiversity loss:
birds and butterflies
Source: Koh and Wilcove (2008)

• Shrinking of natural habitats due to
 Population pressures (food and fiber)
 Agricultural development
• Poaching of “babirusa” and “anoa”
Threats to endemic species
in the Wallacea
M. Kinnaird M. KinnairdLynn Clayton

Biodiversity and the local community
perspectives
• > 2,100 species
• 3,642 specific uses
• 119 non-substitutable
Field survey results from 200 plots
in East Kalimantan:
Sheil et al. (2005)

Farmers’ choice
Murdiyarso et al. (2002)

Why climate and biodiversity
are affected
• Oil palm plantations are developed at the cost
of deforestation
• They mostly occur on high carbon value (HCV)
and high conservation forests (HCF)
• GHG emissions and biodiversity loss

When enough is enough?
Oilpalm development in Indonesia
(x 1000 ha)
Island 1985 1998 New Outstanding
Kalimantan 0 563 563 4,760
Sumatra 806 2,240 1,435 9,395
Sulawesi 12 101 89 665
Papua 23 31 8 590
Maluku 0 0 0 236
Others 2 22 20 1,777
Total 843 2,957 2,115 17,423
Source: World Bank, 1999

How low can you go?
Murdiyarso et al. PNAS, 2010

How long does it take to accumulate?
Kurnianto et al.,
GCB, 2014

Fires enhance C-loss
• Most fires intentionally started as a cheap
method of clearing land
• Drought leads to increasing incidence of
accidental start or spread
• Large-scale companies and local
communities both contribute

Non El-Nino year and non forested lands
Area burnt 163,336 ha (84% on peat).
Mostly on deforested lands (82%; 133,216 ha).
GHG emissions: 172 + 59 Tg CO2-eq or 31 + 12 Tg C
(5–10% of Indonesia’s mean annual emissions for 2000–2005)
Gaveau et al. (2014)

Building knowledge and capacity
at landscape scale
From climate research to action under multilevel governance
1. National REDD
process and strategies
2. REDD demonstration
activities
3. Monitoring and
reference levels
4. Knowledge sharing

How can REDD compete with oil palm?
16
Source: Butler et al. (2009)

REDD “win-wins” solutions
…. but for whom?
Emissions reductions and
• improved biodiversity
conservation
• improved forest governance
• improved local livelihoods

Potential risks to manage
• …of leading to human rights violations
• …of making poor people worse off
• …of corruption
• …of ineffectiveness

Macro fauna in National Parks nearby REDD+ projects
National Park Area (ha),
Date established,
and coordinate
Recorded macro fauna
Nearby REDD+ Project
(Name, area, developer)
Berbak, Jambi 162,700
(1992)
1o23’S 104o20’E
Sumatran tiger, tapir, Sumatran rhinoceros,
Chinese egret, lesser adjutant stork,
Kingfisher, white-winged wood duck, giant
turtle, Batagur turtle, and saltwater
crocodile
Berbak Carbon Value (BCV)
250,000 ha, 700,000 tonnes CO2e y-1
Zoological Society of London, Environmental
Resource Management
Sembilang,
South Sumatra
205,100
(2001) 2o1’S
104o33’E
Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, Malayan
tapir, siamang, golden cat, sambar deer,
saltwater crocodile, Sembilang fish, giant
freshwater turtle, freshwater dolphin
Merang REDD+ Pilot Project (MRPP)
24,000 ha
EU-giz
Danau Sentarum,
West Kalimantan
132,000
(1999)
0o51’N 112o6’E
Asian arowana, clown loach Botia, storm’s
stork, great argus, crocodiles
Kapuas Hulu REDD Pilot Project
300-400 tonnes CO2e y-1
FORCLIME/KfW/giz
Gunung Palung,
West Kalimantan
90,000
(1990)
1o14’S 110o14’E
Orangutans, Agile gibbons, proboscis
monkeys, silver langurs, red-leaf monkeys,
hornbills
Ketapang REDD Pilot and Community Forestry
26,778 ha
Fauna and Flora International (FFI)
Tanjung Puting,
Central Kalimantan
415,000
(1982)
2o56’S 112o02’E
Orangutan, proboscis monkeys, gibbons,
macaques, clouded leopards, sun bears,
wild boars, porcupines, sambar deer
Avoided Deforestation and Peatlands Rewetting
90,000 ha, 100 million tonnes CO2 in 30 years
Rimba Raya Conservation, InfiniteEARTH
Sebangau,
Central Kalimantan
530,000
(1939)
2o33’S 113o50’E
Agile gibbon, orangutan, large green pigeon,
storm’s stork, lesser adjutant
Kalimantan Forest Carbon Partnership (KFCP)
130,000 ha
Australian Agency for International Development

A conceptual framework to generate
combined carbon and biodiversity benefits

Concluding Remarks
• Unprecedented growth of oil palm development and
weak governance of state forest lands have led to
massive forest loss in the past three decades
• Deforestation of C-rich peatlands are of most
immediate ecological and socio-economic concerns
• Land-use change has more immediate effects on
biodiversity compared with climate change that one
generation can observe
• Climate change and biodiversity offer a challenging
frontier for sciences and new knowledge to flourish
and make further impacts in the policy arena

22

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Thank you
cifor.org/swamp
blog.cifor.org
ForestsTreesAgroforestry.org