Blog Posts: degraded land

Andrew Steer, CEO of WRI, and Monique Barbut of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification discuss the urgent need for a global commitment to restoring degraded land and how it may remedy deforestation, desertification and food scarcity.

The expected rise in world population to 9 billion by 2050, and the need for a 70 percent increase in food production from 2006 levels, makes the need for a solution particularly urgent. This challenge will be even more difficult in the face of a changing climate.

As the struggle continues to protect forests around the world, REDD+ implementers should look to cultivate and strengthen institutions and mechanisms of accountability.

Though REDD+ includes an international accountability mechanism, case studies in Brazil and Indonesia, where civil society participated in and challenged land-use decisions, demonstrate that this will probably be insufficient for achieving REDD+ goals.

Indonesia has the world’s third-largest rainforest, which is a haven for biodiversity and an economic lifeline for many rural communities. However, Indonesian forests are in rapid decline and the country regularly tops deforestation hotspots lists. The key to protecting Indonesia’s forests remains reforming its massive forestry and agriculture sectors. By giving these industries the tools to produce commodities such as palm oil and wood pulp sustainably, Indonesia can increase agricultural production without contributing to deforestation.

WRI has produced a new issue brief to address this challenge, How to Change Legal Land Use Classifications to Support More Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia. This publication provides a “how-to guide” for companies to shift their palm oil operations from forested to degraded land, as well as recommendations on how Indonesian policymakers can make this process easier.

WRI mempublikasikan analisis singkat untuk membahas tantangan tersebut: How to Change Legal Land Use Classifications to Support More Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia (Bagaimana Mengubah Klasifikasi Legal Penggunaan Kawasan untuk Mendukung Kelapa Sawit yang Lebih Berkelanjutan di Indonesia). Publikasi ini memberikan panduan praktis bagi perusahaan untuk memindahkan operasi kelapa sawitnya dari lahan berhutan ke lahan terdegradasi, sekaligus menawarkan beberapa rekomendasi kepada para pembuat kebijakan di Indonesia untuk membuat proses ini dapat berlangsung dengan lebih mudah.