A recent study has linked local elections (pilkada) with illegal logging in protection and conservation forest. 2 years before elections, satellite images have shown that logging increases significantly Photo courtesy of Ikhlasul Amal/flickr

BOGOR, Indonesia (March 20, 2011)_Run by CIFOR and several partner organisations around the world, the 4-year Global Comparative Study (GCS) is one of the world’s first major comparative studies on how REDD+ schemes are being designed, implemented, monitored, reported and verified.

As part of inter-related research on the media’s role in translating scientific knowledge for public consumption, and how science may inform policymaking, CIFOR is analysing print media coverage of REDD+ in Indonesia.

News digests are compiled by Efrian Muharrom and Rita Oktarita, Forest and Governance Research Officers at CIFOR, and edited by freelance science writer, Michelle Kovacevic.

• In a search for a solution to the moratorium crisis, the latest draft is currently being rewritten reports Kompas (in Bahasa) by a government lawyer. Under debate is whether including all types of forest will improve its governance or hamper forest conversion to agricultural land. Investors are worried that moratorium implementation without exploring all possible consequences could  lead to potential investment loss of Rp 29 trillion per year. The currently draft is being criticised by NGOs because it still allows forest conversion for geothermal, mining, power plan, sugar cane plantation, rice field and other vital projects.

• Tempo newspaper (in Bahasa), reported that a recent study by the London School of Economics revealed a strong correlation between politics and deforestation rate in Indonesia (read our English translation here). Agus Purnomo, special staff to the president on climate change, highlights the link between local chief elections and increased deforestation. The study shows increasing number of newly established districts with vast forest area have a high rate of deforestation. Satellite images analysis proved that two year before local election (pilkada), illegal logging in protection and conservation forest increases significantly. Furthermore, massive logging is boost one year before and after the election in conversion forest.

• The global debt acquired due to climate change programs has reached US$2.3 billion, said a WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) report published in the Jakarta Post. The figure included loans issued by France, Japan, the World Bank and the Climate Investment Fund scheme between 2008-2010. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to provide $600 million in new loans between 2011-2013. Walhi proposed that the government impose carbon taxes on companies operating in Indonesia that produced carbon emissions.

• The Indonesian government should not be directed by foreign countries in the REDD+ implementation process but learn from pilot projects already occurring, states an article published in Media Indonesia (in Bahasa). In fact, in a Q+A in the Jakarta Post, Glenn T. Prickett, the Nature Conservancy’s newly appointed chief external affairs officer, said that Indonesia can be a role model in green projects. The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) is an initiative of six countries — Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands to encourage the sustainable management of coastal marine resources for the benefit of local communities. Under the leadership of SBY, Indonesia has been a very successful contributor to the initiative.