REDD can compete financially with palm oil in Indonesia peatlands while protecting endangered species
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.comJune 04, 2009
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The study, based on overlaying maps of proposed oil palm development with maps showing carbon-density and wildlife distribution in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), estimates that REDD is financially competitive, and potentially able to fund forest conservation, relative to oil palm at carbon prices of $10-$33 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). In areas with low agricultural suitability and high carbon density, notably peatlands, Venter and colleagues find that a carbon price of $2 per tCO2e would be sufficient to beat out returns from oil palm.
 Orangutan in Kalimantan |
"Most importantly, we discover that areas where emissions reductions are cheapest contain twice the average levels of endangered mammals, demonstrating that REDD has the potential to deliver win-wins for carbon and biodiversity objectives," Venter wrote via email.
The study's most hopeful results — instances where the break-even point for REDD and palm oil is a low carbon price — are based partly on the premise that below ground biomass found in peatlands will be compensated under a future REDD framework. In recent months momentum for the inclusion of emissions from peatlands has been building, largely due to the recognition that such emissions are substantial — up to 8 percent of global emissions in some years.
 Draining and clearing of peat forest in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. |
Oscar Venter et al. Carbon payments as a safeguard for threatened tropical mammals. Conservation Letters xx (2009) 1–7 doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00059.x
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