August 2010: The Alternatives to Slash and Burn Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins (ASB) has released a policy brief on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) in Indonesia inside and outside areas officially defined as “forest.”

The authors note that, based on Indonesia’s definition of institutional forest, approximately one-third of emissions from deforestation occur outside of “forests” and are not accounted for under national REDD+ policy. The authors highlight the potential for leakage to occur based on increased deforestation in areas not technically defined as forest. The policy brief suggests that accounting for emissions through a framework for reducing emissions from all land uses (REALU) will be more effective than Indonesia’s current REDD+ approach. ASB is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [The Policy Brief]