Indonesia has pledged to reduce its emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) by at least 26% by 2020, partly through REDD+. However, the extraction of natural resources continues to form the base of the national economy and shape the institutional landscape. We conducted a legal study that examines how powers over land use are distributed among different sectors and levels of government, including the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the District Governments (in charge of REDD+, land classification, territorial planning and tenure) and the Ministries of Agriculture and Mining (in charge of oil palm and mining, respectively). The study also looks at the mechanism for civil society participation in decision-making processes. Furthermore, we conducted participatory workshops with key actors to build land-use scenarios with a landscape governance approach. Additional multilevel research in Indonesia includes an analysis of fiscal incentives, policy learning across levels, the stepwise approach to reference levels, carbon effectiveness, and more.
Multilevel governance at the landscape scale
The study of multilevel governance at the landscape scale in Indonesia collected primary data through almost 150 interviews on 10 cases of increasing and decreasing carbon emissions located in the regions of West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan (see Table). We developed detailed histories of land-use changes in 6 sites with REDD+, sustainable forest management and conservation projects trying to stop deforestation or enhance forest stocks, as well as in 4 sites where oil palm is driving deforestation. We interviewed the constellation of actors associated with each land-use change, as well as regional and local government representatives from those jurisdictions. The research also examined the types of benefit-sharing arrangements established in the project areas and the legitimacy of their design processes. Reports on this work include a country synthesis, policy briefs and journal articles.
Table. Location, type and number of case studies in Indonesia.
| Country | Region | Case studies | |
| Decreasing emissions cases | Increasing emissions cases | ||
| Indonesia | West Kalimantan | 3 | 2 |
| Central Kalimantan | 3 | 2 | |
