During the first year (April 2008 - March 2009), the project contributed to:
1) the international debate on reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD);
2) build capacity for the implementation of REDD in Indonesia.
Contribution to the international debate
The contribution to the international debate on the form that an REDD mechanism should take included a paper published in Ecological Economics on "compensated reductions of emissions vs compensated efforts to avoid deforestation". The paper argues that incentive to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation should be provided on the basis of evidence that those emissions have actually been achieved (output based approach) rather than on the basis policies implemented to reduce emissions (input based approach). This output was not planned, but it became evident during the initial phases of the research that the international to national architecture of REDD will also influence the national and sub-national level implementation, which is the focus of this project.
The research on fiscal decentralization carried out by the project is contributing to an increased scientific understanding of the mechanisms that could be developed at the sub-national level to implement REDD, and it was presented at the IARU International Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in March 2009. This research builds on experiences of fiscal decentralization for biodiversity conservation in Brazil, and proposals in countries such as Germany, to define how these models could be adapted to REDD in countries that have a decentralized forest management system such as Indonesia.
Building capacity in Indonesia
A paper on fiscal decentralization prepared by the project has been distributed to project partners and also informally presented to the team within the Ministry of Finance that works on fiscal issues and REDD. The issues discussed in the paper were of particular interest to the Ministry of Finance, and the project will continue liaising with them.
Project staff presented a lecture at the Bogor Agricultural University, thus contributing to a better understanding of REDD within the scientific community in Indonesia. The powerpoint presentation was also presented by project staff of the Forest Research and Development Agency (FORDA) of the Ministry of Forestry at a forum in South Sumatra province discussing REDD issues.
Thirdly, the Australian Team leader has contributed knowledge to a number of REDD activities taking place in relation to Indonesia, including:
a. Provided input/comments to the development of AusAID activities, including the REDD management facility and the design of the Kalimantan REDD pilot proejct;
b. Provided input the review of climate change policy in Indonesia being prepared for the Ministry of Finance with funding from Australia.

The project has also been engaged in mapping deforestation in the two project districts in Riau province and, in partnership with another project implemented by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), in three districts in Papua province. This mapping will contribute to a better understanding of the current drivers of deforestation in those provinces and how the implementation of REDD could address the problem.