The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

The decision tree under Sub-­‐step 2c in the combined tool wasapplied:Is forest protection without being registered as avoluntary project activity included in the list of land usescenarios that are not prevented by any barrier: Decision:NOIf no, then: Does the list contain only one land usescenario? Decision: YESIf yes, then the remaining land use is the baselinescenario. Continue with Step 4: Common practice test.STEP 3: Investment analysis (not included per Sub-­‐step 2c above)STEP 4: Common practice analysisConservation activities such as the Rimba Raya project are notcommon in the region. One other conservation project, theMawas Conservation Project, is carrying out conservationactivities in southeastern Central Kalimantan, but this project isnot fully operational due to implementation challenges.Additional information regarding the baseline scenario: Althoughthe investment analysis was not necessary to determine the mostlikely baseline scenario, additional evidence demonstrating thatthe project lands are under threat of conversion to plantations issummarized below.A key difficulty in documenting a baseline scenario in Indonesia isthat there are multiple and overlapping jurisdictions whose legalauthorities are relevant to the approval of plantations for palmoil. These include the district, provincial, and central authorities,and departments such as Forestry, Environment, and Planning.Projects may be approved by one authority but not recognized –or even known – at another. What is demonstrable is that theRimba Raya region is under threat of incursion as demonstratedby the official maps shown below. Without intervention byInfinite Earth, these or other developments would haveproceeded.Evidence/documentation for threat of conversion to palm oilplantations included documentation for the four oil palmconcessions within the Project Area that have been given permitsby the Indonesian government (See Annexes 12, 13 & 14). Thenorthernmost concession is already under development and istherefore excluded from the Project Area and accountingboundary.G2.2. Documentation of Project ‘Additionality’This section documents that project benefits would not have occurred inthe absence of the project, explains how existing laws or regulationswould likely affect land use and justifies that project benefits are truly‘additional’ and would be unlikely to occur without the project.The basis for “additionality” in the project area is “AvoidingPlanned Deforestation” where government land-­‐use planningpolicy specifically targets the project zone for conversion from a“forest” classification to a “non-­‐forest classification for industrialagriculture exploitation” (principally oil palm).Under the VCS Guidelines for AFOLU Projects, “PlannedDeforestation” can encompass a wide variety of activities suchas: national resettlement programs from non-­‐forested toforested regions; plans to convert well-­‐managed community-­ownedforests to other non-­‐forest uses; planned forest97