Abstract of the research referred to in this presentation: The mosaic swidden landscapes with forests, fallows, and fields of northern Laos are undergoing rapid land use change as intensified agriculture and plantations are expanding. This may occur at the expense of older forests, but it is mostly secondary regrowth that is removed and not allowed to grow back to forest. This happens as a response to: 1) land allocation policies that restrict swidden systems to very short fallow cycles; 2) economic policies promoting investment in cash crops and land development; and 3) the uneven enforcement of land policies. We show how contradicting land and economic policies in Laos cause deforestation and forest degradation, with local people as both potential winners and losers. Based on interviews with villages and district, provincial and national level government staff, we argue that successful REDD+ will be difficult to achieve in the current policy environment. Moreover, as local people seize every opportunity to increase their well-being, REDD+ without substantial local payments will not be competitive with other land use activities. A strong focus on the multiple benefits of non-carbon ecosystem services will have to be developed in conjunction with REDD+ to spare the mosaic swidden landscapes that provide these services. This presentation was given by Ole Mertz at the IUFRO conference in Beijing, China that was held from October 24-27, 2016.

1. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management
Prospects for REDD+ in swidden landscapes
Ole Mertz, Jean-Christophe Castella, Thoumthone Vongvisouk, Neil Dawson,
Rikke Brandt Broegaard, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Guillaume Lestrelin,
Sithong Thongmanivong

2. • International conventions – biodiversity, climate
• Global consumer pressure – sustainable production, certified
products
• International conservation NGOs and development agencies –
double roles?
• National and international agri-businesses
• National policy targets
• land sparing seen as economic development
• land sharing the traditional practice, ignored
by policy
• … but not always
• Science?
Policies on shifting cultivation (SC) in SEAsia
Country
SC Illegal by
law
SC de facto
illegal by
indirect
legislation
SC legal, but
restricted to
certain areas
and/or short
fallows
Agricultural
and forestry
policies aim
to stop SC
SC legal and
without
restrictions
Bangladesh X X
Bhutan X X
Brunei X
Cambodia X
China X
India X X X
Indonesia X
Laos X X
Malaysia X X
Myanmar X
Nepal X
Papua New Guinea X
Philippines X X X X
Sri Lanka X X
Thailand X X X
Timor-Leste X
Vietnam X X

3. Land use change in northern Laos
(and elsewhere in SEAsia)
Will incentive-based REDD+ payments stop deforestation?
Deforestation in northern Laos = about 40t CO2 ha-1 year-1
Carbon price: 1 ton CO2 = 10 US$ (World Bank 2015)
REDD+ annual income: 400 US$ ha-1 year-1
Rubber ≈ 6,000-8,000 US$ ha-1 year-1 (2012 data)

4. What will it take to
conserve forests and
improve livelihoods?

5. But first some further obstacles
This sign says that Homephan village in Huaphan province has ended the
cutting of forest for the purpose of shifting cultivation

6. Land sparing in Laos policies: replace shifting
cultivation to spare forests, e.g. through REDD+
But also realize ‘land
capital’ with agricul-
tural investments

7. Obstacles for REDD+ in Laos
• Contradictory policies:
REDD+ and biodiversity conservation land development and investment
• Land tenure has not been clarified by multiple land use planning
excercises, e.g.:
• previous land allocation overruled by revised protected area boundary
• only 3 out of 76 villages had land titled
• … and here only house plots, not agricultural land
• REDD+ implementation stalled by institutional re-organizations and
associated lacking human resource capacity
• Local authorities hesitant to monitor and report on policy compliance
when policies are contradictory (and poorly understood, such as REDD+)
• But this gives room for maneuvering for both civil servants and local
communities and the situation is not necessarily perceived as
undesirable…
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

8. Dramatic conversions where both
forests and mosaic shifting cultivation
landscapes disappear
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

9. Importance of mosaic landscapes for livelihoods
Khorn Ngua and Son Kua: Shifting cultivation with rice and maize
Phon Song: Continuous maize cultivation
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

10. Importance of mosaic landscapes for nutrition
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

11. Conclusions
• Shift focus from strict conservation of forest to landscapes
• REDD+ cannot do the job alone – other ecosystem services are
essential for local people’s health and livelihood and need to be
valued
• Essentially this calls for a political recognition of the
multifunctional landscape in Southeast Asia:
mosaics that integrate protected forest, productive forest,
extensive and intensive agriculture
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management
References:
Broegaard RB, Rasmussen LV, Dawson N, Mertz O, Vongvisouk T. (in review) Wild food collection and nutrition under
commercial agriculture expansion in agriculture-forest landscapes. Resubmitted to Forest Policy and Economics
Broegaard RB, Vongvisouk T, Mertz O (in press): Contradictory Land Use Plans and Policies in Laos: Tenure Security and the
Threat of Exclusion. World Development, online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.008
Rasmussen LV, Christensen AE, Danielsen D, Dawson N, Martin A, Mertz O, Sikor T, Xaydongvanh P (in press): From food to
pest: Conversion factors determine switches between ecosystem services and disservices. Ambio, online.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0813-6
Rasmussen LV, Mertz O, Christensen AE, Danielsen F, Dawson N, Xaydongvanh P (2016): A combination of methods needed
to assess the actual use of provisioning ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services 17:75-86.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.11.005
Vongvisouk T, Lestrelin G, Castella J-C, Mertz O, Broegaard RB, Thongmanivong S (in press): REDD+ on hold: Lessons from
an emerging institutional setup in Laos. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apv.12134
Vongvisouk T, Broegaard RB, Mertz O, Thongmanivong S (2016): Rush for cash crops and forest protection: Neither land
sparing nor land sharing. Land Use Policy 55:182–192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.04.001

12. Thank You!