Stewardship Agreements to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in Indonesia

Conflicts over who controls the forests and forest margins is now widely recognized as a key issue that needs to be addressed if the world wants to see a reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation. Indonesia, the country with the highest carbon emissions from change in its forest cover, is now expressing global leadership in commitments to Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) that include forests, peatland and an increasing attention for the 'trees outside forest', in the form of agroforests and trees in agricultural landscapes. Agreements on stewardship in the
forest margin are key to the success of such programs, but rules need to be simplified for wider application.