Beyond REDD in Congo

Bruno Verbist

Pieter Moonen

Le Quéré et al., 2009, Nature Geoscience; Data: CDIAC, FAO, Woodhole

Research center 2009

Van der Werf et al, 2009

3

Forest in DRC

o 120 -156 million ha

forest

o 0.2% -0.6% annual

net deforestation

o 35 million people

resident in or

dependent on the

forest

• waar deze programma’s realiseren ?

• wat is er mogelijk binnen de grenzen v/h systeem:

waar kom je uit, en met welke trade-offs ?

Source: MECNT, 2010. R-PP DRC

“Passive” forest protection

in the DRC

weak infrastructure

civil unrest

investment climate

low average rural population

densities

Relationship between REDD+ policies, agricultural intensification, and deforestation.

Phelps J et al. PNAS 2013;110:7601-7606

©2013 by National Academy of Sciences

7

Includes agroforests, oil

palm plantations;

High density of rural poor

Clearfelling/ re-plant is accepted as

forest; no time-limit on ‘replant’;

Mainly State Forest Land; low

density of rural poor

Forest with trees

Forest

Non-Forest

without trees

Non-Forest with

trees

Forest without

trees

Non-forest

Forest definition

based on % tree

cover

0%

100%

X %

What is a forest?

REDD vs. REALU

ALL-REDDI:

average= 90 t C/ha ALL-REDDI: average

= 60 t C/ha

Forest definition

based on a legal

or institutional

perspective

X is often

between

10-30%

8

Non-forest

with trees

Forest without trees

Forest with

trees

Non-forest

mosaic

Tropical Young Growth

Tropical Old Growth

Tropical Forest Regrowth

Tropical Young Secondary Forest

Bare soil

Link with the

mechanisms of

deforestation

Driving factors of deforestation

Deforestation along 5 axes from Kisangani

Km à partir de Kisangani

ha

Field survey

Focus group

discussions at

village level

Village biplot with the colour of the villages indicating the deforestation level

(Red= very high, black = high, blue = mediocre, green = low) and the shape indicating the

four cluster groups (circle = Very high 1, triangle = high, plus = medium and cross = low deforestation).

Household and village survey

Preliminary results socio-economic survey:

Most important factors // deforestation

• Village level: Mbole // deforestation

• Household level:

o Number of wives

o Number of fields

Participatory mapping

Conclusions

- Fallow land and secondary play an increasingly important

role in the agricultural system and in carbon storage.

- Future (agricultural) development projects better take into

account the existance and location of different stages of

fallow and forest

- Lots of disputes in ownership of land and forest will impact

REDD

- The Forest Code (2002) has not yet gotten ‘teeth’ to have

an impact at field level regarding community management

and carbon rights

Thank you for your attention.

23