Indonesia: Building Grassroots Capacity in REDD+

Due to the decentralized governance system in Indonesia, building capacity at local and district levels is one of the priorities for preparing for REDD+ implementation in the country. In order to systematically plan for capacity development for REDD+, the Grassroots Project organized a capacity building needs assessment (CBNA) for REDD+ as a first step. The CBNA for REDD+ in Indonesia  highlighted the significant gaps in knowledge level among grassroots stakeholders on the causes and consequences of climate change, drivers of deforestations and forest degradation, the role of forests in mitigating impacts of climate change and the roles and responsibilities of local communities in the same, and ability of grassroots stakeholders and their representatives to voice their concerns and issues linked with climate change and REDD+, including challenges with regards to property rights, lack of participation in decision making process.

Using the findings from CBNA, the REDD+ training manual was developed and contextualized in Bahasa Indonesia as one of the key tools to deliver training and capacity development events. Starting with fundamentals of climate change, REDD+ and roles of forests, the REDD+ training manual provides updates on recent REDD+ developments and emerging local needs using lessons from other countries, Indonesian case studies, and feedback from Indonesian training courses. A series of REDD+ modules are developed in collaboration with the Centre for Forestry Education and Training (CFET), Ministry of Forestry, and it has been further applied in a number of national, sub-national, and community level training and capacity development activities through cascading approach. In order to reach out to a wider spectrum of grassroots stakeholders, the project used local and culturally accepted tools and methods, such as Javanese puppet shows, locally known as Wayang to reach a large number of grassroots stakeholders, local forest officers, indigenous people, community leaders, religious leaders, women preachers, teachers and students for developing their understanding on climate change, REDD+ and roles of forests.

Furthermore, the project shared on-the-ground experiences at national and international events through the workshops, conferences and consultations. We also bring up and make grassroots voices to be heard and inform larger discussions about our specific lessons learned in Indonesia through sharing workshops at provincial, national and regional levels.