A presentation by Raymond Achu Samndong, from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, at a workshop held in Paris from Thursday, 3 December to Friday, 4 December during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21). The event organised by the International Institute for Environment and Development aimed to share the findings of its research to inform a wider debate on how REDD+ is contributing to addressing the drivers of land use and land use change. The presentation focused on private sector engagement in REDD+ using the case study of Mai Ndombe, DRC. More details: http://www.iied.org/redd-paris-what-could-be-it-for-people-forests

1. Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 1
Private sector engagement in REDD+ of the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
The case of ERA/WWC Mai Ndombe REDD+
project
Engaging men and women in REDD+ businesses:
IIED COP 21 side event
Paris, 3rd-4th December 2015
Raymond Achu Samndong

2. Outline of the presentation
1. Forest governance and REDD+ in the DRC
2. Research hypothesis and questions
3. Conceptual framework for effective REDD+ delivery
4. ERA Project area and methods
5. ERA actions to address D&D in the project area
6. Community perception about the project
7. Discussion and conclusion
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 2

3. Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 3
 The state hold ownership to land and
forest but communities’ claims customary
rights in practice
 REDD+ projects operate within this dual
legal environment
 All REDD+ projects are operating in a
vacuum of uncertainty over the legal
status of carbon rights.
 The government has introduced carbon
rights agreements to contract private
sector investment in REDD+.
 This revealed a new tendency of the
government to use existing legislation of
tangible resources to frame legal
arrangements to capture the new carbon
commodity.
3. Forest governance and REDD+ in the DRC

4. 4. Research hypothesis and questions
hypothesis
The implementation of REDD+ by private sector needs integrated interventions as
well as commitment and resources (finance, capacity) from each of the key agents
in deforestation and forest degradation to address the drivers and derive equitable
benefits.
The involvement of a carbon selling company and communities (often meaning
smallholder farmers and biomass energy producers) are not sufficient to mobilize
the collective and integrated actions required to avoid leakage from REDD+ pilots
involving private sector.
Questions
What actions and actors drive deforestation and forest degradation in the project
area
What costs and actions do ERA endures to protect forest to generate carbon
credits
What mechanisms are employed by ERA to involve local rights holders and
channeling benefits
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 4

5. 5. Conceptual framework for effective REDD+ delivery
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Actions to
RE
Activities being undertaken in
the landscape, scale and benefits
derived
The underlying causes of land
use and land use change
(governance, land tenure and
law enforcement) Who are the actors
Economic rationale for the
current activities
Practices that contribute to
deforestation and forest
degradation
Willingness to change practices
Incentives needed for the
change to happen
Alternative and sustainable
land uses changes
Cost of such actions sources
of financing
Capacity to implement such
activities
Policy environment – determine choices by land usersPolicy environment – determine choices by land users
Drivers
Actors
Source: Samndong and Nhantumbo, 2016 forthcoming

6. 6. ERA project area and methods
 The project is located in Inongo Territory of
the Mai Ndombe Province
 The project area covers about 299,645
hectares of dense humid forests, swamp
forest and savannah
 The project is situated about 395km from
Kinshasa along the western shore of Lake
Mai Ndombe
 The project area covers 3 districts of the
territory and 11 tribal chiefdoms and 2
main ethnic groups (Bantu-Bolia, Selenge
and Ntomba, and the Pygmies)
 The project area is also home to 50,000
people living in 26 villages, who make a
living from fishing, shifting cultivation,
hunting and charcoal production.
 Our field research was conducted in
Nselenge and Kesenge villages in the
project area
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 6

7. ERA Project area and methods con’t
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 7

8. ERA Project area and methods con’t
Norwegian University of Life SciencesTittel på presentasjon 8

9. 7. ERA actions to address deforestation in the
project area
Participatory mapping and land use
planning
No land use planning conducted in the
villages.
BUA practices still continues and local people
cultivate traditional crops in the forest.
No demarcation of village land for agriculture
and other uses and the forest area to be
protected.
The local population very anxious about the
land use planning.
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 9

10. Agroforestry activities
 Agroforestry demonstration plots and
nursery established to promote agricultural
diversification
 New crops have been introduced because
of their rapid and high yield and potential for
market exchange to generate income
 The demonstration fields are managed by
ERA field staffs
 Many women are excluded due to financial
requirements and lack sufficient training
 The agroforestry process is still at it early
stage to produce seedlings that adapt to
local condition before distribution.
 Production practices and new technologies
being transferred are not clear to the
majority of the stakeholders
 No strategy to address biomass energy –
charcoal production in the project area
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 10

11. Community participation and capacity building
Local development committees (CLD)
CLD established by ERA to function as
Interlocutor between communities and
company
The CLD created is gender and ethnic bias—
very few women as members and leadership
nominated by landowners
CLD created lacks the institutional
arrangements (bylaws and rules) to function.
CLD members are still very confused about
which activities to implement and still waiting
training from ERA.
According to ERA, the CLDs will coordinate
village activities and serve as communication
channel between the communities and ERA
CLD is representing the interests of the ERA
and seem to be accountable to ERA.
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 11

12. Information and benefits sharing
 High information gap and
misunderstanding about the project and
community benefits
 The FPIC process was more of local
consultation than seeking for local consent
to the project
 The local people lacks information about
project activities, timeframe and delivery
mechanisms
 Local animators and CLD members
provide continuous communication but
information gaps persist
 Community benefits signed in the social
agreement contract is not known to
majority of the local people
 The local elites signed the social
agreement but the content and delivery
mechanisms are not known to majority of
the local people
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 12

13. Community perception about the project
 Mixed perception and inadequate understanding
of the ERA project and objectives.
 Forest protection is important for climate and
biodiversity but we cannot protect forest and die
of hunger
 Insufficient information sharing/access, lack of
awareness and local capacity building in the
communities
 Local people are anxious and worried that the
project may be just promised than real action.
 The logging company made immediate impact
and created opportunities but ERA still
promises.
 REDD+ concepts, carbon, carbon credits and
voluntary markets are new and difficult for
communities to understand
 We heard about protecting forest for carbon and
oxygen but where is carbon and oxygen in the
forest?
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 13

14. Community perception about the project con’t
 Landowners received 500$ from ERA as
access rights to the forest but don’t
understand what they do in the forest.
 We see logging companies extracting
timber from our forest but we do not
understand how the carbon will be extracted
and how it will be sole.
 Local people do not understand how the
social agreement contract was designed,
negotiated, the contents and delivery
mechanisms.
 The local agronomists and animators lack
sufficient training, skills and understanding
of the project objectives to translate into
action.
 Agroforestry activities moving very slowly
and we cannot practice them in our farm
fields.
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 14

15. Discussion and conclusion
Carbon rights agreement
No legal framework for carbon storage and right holders.
REDD+ operates under a system of legal pluralism and contested rights to land and forests in the
DRC.
Information
ERA has made deliberate efforts to demonstrate dialogue with local land users.
Limited investment in appropriate communication tools to enable communities to capture the key
information being transmitted.
Participation
Community participation has been more instrumental than empowering—less involved in project
design but somehow involved during implementation
Local elites representing communities’ interests are not accountable to communities
The CLD is still very weak to make decisions on communities’ interests and less accountable to the
communities
Benefits sharing
Many communities members feel their interests and needs are not fully considered in the social
agreement contracts.
High uncertainty of community benefits—the timeframe and delivery mechanisms of the benefits in
social contract is poorly understood by communities
The production practices and new technologies being transferred to communities are not clear
and limited employment opportunities
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 15

16. Thanks for listening
I will appreciate comments and questions
Norwegian University of Life SciencesPrivate sector engagement in REDD+ 16