Conservation Concessions in Indonesia: An Investigation of Their Potential

Abstract

Conservation concessions are a recent development in the tropics: concession sellers protect natural ecosystems in exchange for a steady stream of structured compensation from conservationists and other investors. Conservation concessions are now under active consideration by several NGOs in Indonesia. The potential for their further implementation in Indonesia is the central subject of this paper. Five core issues are critically examined: (1) competition with existing timber concessions in Indonesian production forests, (2) Government of Indonesia and regulatory support, (3) monitoring systems, (4) local community involvement, and (5) standardising the conservation concession mechanism.