Collaboration among government, communities, and businesses in preparing jurisdictional REDD+ in Riau, connecting data management, forest and peatland protection, and respect for community rights. Credit: AI-generated illustration.

Introduction

In their early stages, many REDD+ initiatives developed as projects with their own area boundaries, methodologies, baselines, crediting periods, monitoring systems, and benefit-sharing mechanisms. Project-based models can encourage innovation and investment. However, when several projects operate within one province or country, there is a need to ensure accounting consistency and manage leakage, reversal risks, overlapping areas, and potential double counting. Nesting has emerged as an approach to aligning project, subnational, and national initiatives within a coherent accounting and governance framework (World Bank, 2021; UN-REDD Program, 2024).

Nesting involves more than incorporating project-level emission reductions into jurisdictional figures. This approach must have a single reference emissions ceiling and requires decisions on geographical boundaries and accounting periods, methodological consistency, attribution of mitigation outcomes, data management, registries, authorizations and claims, safeguards, and benefit distribution. Without these arrangements, the system may face overlapping claims, uncertainty over rights to mitigation outcomes, or unbalanced incentives among governments, project developers, communities, and rights holders. Riau Province provides an important learning context because its forests, peatlands, and coastal ecosystems hold substantial carbon stocks while facing pressures from land-use change, fires, and peatland degradation. An earlier manuscript by Dharmawan and Arifatmi (2026) documented preparations for jurisdictional nesting through cooperation among UNEP-UNREDD, the central government, the Riau Provincial Government, regional government agencies (OPD), Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the private sector, academia, civil society organizations, and development partners. This experience is framed through eleven lessons covering leadership, incentives, collaboration, coordination, FPIC, partnerships, capacity, the private sector, policy breakthroughs, data, and public communication.

The prospect of implementing Indonesia’s first jurisdictional nesting REDD+ project within Riau Province is a source of pride for the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Environment, the Riau Provincial Government, and the country more broadly. Supporting the implementation of jurisdictional nesting REDD+ in Riau through the GREEN for Riau Initiative requires the involvement of multiple sectors. The Riau Provincial Government continues to introduce forest and land-sector policies. These include support for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), peatland protection and conservation, protection of High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) within plantation areas and natural forest concessions, and a moratorium on permits in natural forests and peatlands. This preparation phase for jurisdictional nesting REDD+ will strengthen the Riau Provincial Government’s commitment to low-carbon development. This article aims to share lessons from jurisdictional nesting and identify their implications for developing jurisdictional REDD+ in Indonesia.

Key Lessons

Leadership

A central lesson from GREEN for Riau is that the successful development of jurisdictional REDD+ depends heavily on strong, consistent, and coordinated leadership across levels of government, alongside support from community leaders. The central government plays an important role in providing policy direction, regulatory certainty, technical standards, funding support, and access to performance-based incentive mechanisms. At the provincial level, leadership from the Governor and government agencies is critical to integrating emission reductions into development planning, coordinating implementation across sectors, and building partnerships with the central government, businesses, civil society, and development partners. District and city governments, meanwhile, serve at the front line of implementation through stronger governance, facilitation of community participation, resolution of operational challenges, and integration of programmes into regional development. GREEN for Riau’s experience also demonstrates the importance of involving religious leaders as informal leaders with considerable influence in building community awareness, trust, and support for environmental conservation and emission reductions. This synergy between formal and informal leadership has proven to be an important foundation for building shared commitments, strengthening programme legitimacy, reducing implementation barriers, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of jurisdictional REDD+ in Riau Province.

Preparing Performance-Based Incentive Mechanisms

Preparations for Results-Based Payments in Riau Province will be governed by the Benefit Sharing Mechanism (BSM) document, including the development of Riau Province’s BSM Guidelines. These documents are prepared through discussions and public consultations to reach agreement on benefit sharing among all parties involved in Riau’s emission reduction programme. The benefit-sharing plan will clearly identify the beneficiaries, the benefits they receive, and how those benefits will be distributed to eligible recipients. Benefit sharing should not be based solely on geographical area or the amount of carbon accounted for. Criteria may consider contributions to emission reductions, forest protection efforts, opportunity costs, risks borne, safeguards performance, the needs of vulnerable groups, and recognition of rights. UN-REDD guidance emphasizes that benefit-sharing systems within nested arrangements must consider rights, access for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women and smallholders, consistency with carbon rights arrangements, and a balance between financing public policies and providing incentives on the ground (UN-REDD Program, 2024). The BSM should therefore be developed alongside the nesting framework, rather than after credits have been issued. Delays in agreeing on benefit-sharing principles risk creating conflict once mitigation outcomes acquire economic value.

Central–Regional Government Collaboration and Regional Commitment

Collaboration is a process of participation and cooperation between two or more individuals or groups to achieve particular outcomes. Building collaboration requires a process that establishes mutual trust, mutual respect, and a shared understanding of common goals. The project under UNEP UN-REDD Program cooperation to prepare jurisdictional nesting REDD+ implementation in Riau Province represents collaboration among the UNEP UN-REDD Program, the central government—the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry—and the Riau Provincial Government. The UNEP UN-REDD Program has collaborated effectively in preparing the necessary instruments. This collaboration has been grounded in its commitment to supporting green development in Riau and Indonesia more broadly.

This effective collaboration is reflected in efforts to prepare data, instruments, and the resources required. Riau has also demonstrated its willingness to facilitate the involvement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, along with all parties participating in the project. Its commitment is further reflected in efforts to integrate REDD+ into regional strategic development planning and to develop the necessary legal instruments, including decrees and other regulations. This lesson shows that jurisdictional REDD+ requires clear divisions of authority alongside regular coordination. The central government ensures consistency with national policies, NDC targets, methodologies, registry systems, and safeguards standards. The provincial government coordinates policies across districts, cities, and government agencies, aligns development programmes, and facilitates implementation on the ground. Districts, cities, Forest Management Units (KPH), villages, communities, and permit holders are important actors in implementation and data provision. Collaboration must be translated into operational governance structures: steering committees, technical working groups, secretariats, institutional focal points, responsibility matrices, data-sharing procedures, and issue-escalation mechanisms. Informal agreements are important for building trust, but they must be complemented by formal decisions or agreements to ensure continuity of responsibilities.

Coordinating Across Multiple Levels

Building strong communication and coordination so that this preparation phase can progress effectively at national, subnational, and local levels is no simple task. With facilitation from the UNEP UN-REDD Program, coordination has been successfully undertaken across these levels. Formal and informal meetings are effective when their topics and objectives are clear. Several meetings between the UNEP UN-REDD Program, the central government, and Riau have helped build mutual understanding among stakeholders. Provincial-level coordination meetings involving regional government agencies and stakeholders across levels have also provided a means to integrate emission reductions into regional development planning. Other informal meetings have created opportunities for dialogue and regular updates on Riau’s jurisdictional nesting REDD+ readiness. Large-scale interactive dialogues involving multiple stakeholders have also been organized through cooperation among the UNEP UN-REDD Program, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Forestry, and the Riau Provincial Government. In nesting practice, coordination must go beyond information exchange. Coordination forums need to produce decisions on issues that could obstruct accounting and implementation, such as inconsistent maps, discrepancies in activity data, tenure status, overlapping projects, MRV responsibilities, fire management, and safeguards reporting. Each meeting should have an agenda, technical materials, documented decisions, responsible parties, deadlines, and follow-up actions.

Involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

The involvement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in REDD+ projects is both a mandate and a prerequisite. Communities must be free to decide whether to participate. Preparations for jurisdictional nesting REDD+ implementation in Riau continue through parallel public consultations at provincial, district, city, and village levels. This process seeks to establish whether Indigenous Peoples and local communities wish to participate with full information and awareness. These consultations form part of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), known in Indonesia as Padiatapa. Community involvement is essential under national and international laws, policies, and agreements.

Engaging communities can support Free, Prior and Informed Consent and build shared ownership. FPIC is neither one-way outreach nor simply an attendance list. A meaningful process requires identification of rights holders and legitimate representative institutions, understandable information in appropriate languages and formats, sufficient time for internal deliberation, access to support or independent advice, and the freedom to accept or reject participation. Information must cover the activity’s objectives, area and boundaries, potential impacts, rights and obligations, risks, benefits, benefit sharing, grievance mechanisms, and legal and economic implications.

Committed Development Partners

The Riau Provincial Government’s efforts to build a Riau that benefits everyone are supported by its communities and development partners, including companies, academia, local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international cooperation initiatives operating in the province. An important lesson is that preparations for implementation require a long journey and substantial energy and resources. Yet development partners in Riau have remained supportive and committed to helping. Each institution contributes according to its capacity and expertise.

Development partners can support methodology development, mapping, capacity building, public consultations, tenure assessments, information systems, safeguards, and financing mobilization. However, external support must strengthen government and community ownership, rather than create dependence on consultants or assistance projects. Knowledge transfer, procedural documentation, and stronger local institutions should be mandatory outputs of technical support. Partnership management should map partners, mandates, contributions, geographical coverage, outputs, schedules, and coordination mechanisms. This reduces duplication and ensures that all support contributes to the same jurisdictional framework.

Strengthening Stakeholder Capacity

Members of Riau’s Working Group have taken active roles and initiatives according to their respective expertise. Each institution contributes within its capacity to preparations for jurisdictional nesting REDD+ implementation. Participation in this process has helped members apply and further develop their capacities. Capacity building in Riau has taken place through practical technical training, workshops, seminars, and intensive assistance from relevant consultants. The UNEP UN-REDD Program project in Riau has supported partners’ capacity development at national and subnational levels. Capacity needs must be mapped by function. Governments require capabilities in planning, coordination, policy, registry management, and oversight. Technical teams need expertise in FREL/FRL, activity data, emission factors, uncertainty estimation, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), MRV, leakage, and reversals. Communities and supporting organizations need capacities relating to rights, FPIC, safeguards, participatory monitoring, and grievance mechanisms. The private sector needs to understand nesting requirements, reporting, and the reconciliation of claims.

Private-Sector Participation in Emission Reductions under Jurisdictional REDD+ Nesting

A recurring question during preparations in Riau is how to strengthen the private sector’s role in reducing emissions. Jurisdictional nesting gives private-sector actors flexibility to participate in Riau’s jurisdictional programme or remain outside it through an inclusive and transparent FPIC process. Private-sector actors that already operate carbon projects or have registered them are given the choice of whether to join jurisdictional nesting under mutually agreed terms and conditions. The nesting framework must establish arrangements for both existing and new projects. Options may include full integration into the jurisdictional system, adjustments to project baselines or results, outcome-sharing arrangements, recognition of early action, or other transitional arrangements consistent with national law and applicable standards. There is no universal formula; decisions must be transparent, consistent, auditable, and respectful of legitimate rights. Private-sector participation requires clarity on rights and obligations, approval processes, transaction costs, timelines for recognizing results, benefit sharing, data access, and dispute resolution procedures. Governments must also ensure that flexibility for businesses does not weaken community rights or environmental integrity.

GREEN Riau Encourages Policy and Legal Breakthroughs

Climate change and REDD+ are relatively new issues that have attracted interest across different groups. At the subnational level in Riau, the UNEP UN-REDD Program encourages and facilitates the development of arrangements for jurisdictional nesting REDD+, including community feedback and grievance mechanisms and the integration of REDD+ into existing provincial, district, and city development programmes. Policy instruments may include regional head decrees, regional regulations or regional head regulations within their respective authority, technical guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), cooperation agreements, and data exchange protocols. These instruments must address institutions, roles, planning processes, MRV systems, safeguards, FPIC, benefit sharing, registration, grievance handling, transparency, and oversight. The Feedback and Grievance Redress Mechanism (FGRM) must be accessible, safe, available without unreasonable costs, protective of confidentiality, subject to resolution deadlines, and equipped with escalation and appeal pathways. The FGRM does not replace legal proceedings; it provides a means to identify and resolve issues early.

Data and Information Management in Riau

The Riau Provincial Government continues to improve public access to information on its green development efforts. Several platforms have been established, including provincial public information services, development data systems, One Map, grievance-handling services, the GREEN for Riau website, and platforms managed by relevant government agencies. Planned REDD+ implementation has encouraged improvements in data and information management. Riau’s data systems provide a platform for community participation in emission reductions. The growing visibility of GREEN for Riau across the province has also encouraged more effective public information services and channels for feedback and grievances. Communities, businesses, and other stakeholders participating in REDD+ will be able to use these provincial systems to monitor project developments.

In nesting, data is core infrastructure. Data systems must integrate spatial and non-spatial information, including land cover, administrative boundaries, forest areas, concessions, customary territories, social forestry areas, peatlands, mangroves, fires, management activities, social data, and safeguards information. Each dataset needs metadata specifying its source, year, scale, resolution, coordinate system, methods, data owner, access level, and update history. Applying One Data or One Map principles does not mean that all data must be held by a single institution. What is required is interoperability standards, access governance, exchange protocols, version control, validation, and designated responsibilities. Data used for FREL/FRL and MRV must undergo QA/QC procedures and be supported by audit trails, uncertainty documentation, and correction mechanisms.

Public Outreach

Progress and preparations for REDD+ implementation through the UNEP UN-REDD Program have been communicated widely through a dissemination strategy supported by the Riau Provincial Government’s Public Relations Bureau and its Communications, Informatics, and Statistics Agency. Regular information and press releases have been provided to the media so that stakeholders can access programme developments, achievements, and strategic agendas in a timely manner. At strategic events, such as the GREEN for Riau launch and other important forums, press conferences and media briefings have provided direct access to speakers, data, and accurate information. Beyond serving as channels for information dissemination, the media and journalist community have been engaged as strategic partners in building public understanding, increasing transparency, strengthening implementation accountability, and promoting credible information about the objectives, processes, and benefits of jurisdictional REDD+ in Riau Province.

Alongside press releases, public communication on Riau’s jurisdictional REDD+ preparations has continued through the GREEN for Riau website, the provincial government website, and other channels, including social media, print publications, and local electronic media. This approach aims to increase transparency, build shared understanding, and broaden stakeholder participation in programme development. Looking ahead, communication strategies need to be more closely tailored to different audiences to improve effectiveness and relevance. Policymakers require strategic information, including policy briefs, performance results, and decision-making recommendations. Communities need understandable information on rights, benefits, potential impacts, and grievance mechanisms. Businesses require technical guidance, regulatory certainty, and information on participation processes. The media need timely access to data, speakers, and credible information. Beyond dissemination, public communication systems must also accommodate feedback mechanisms and two-way communication to identify information gaps, manage public perceptions, address potential grievances early, and support adaptive, transparent, and accountable improvements to programme design and implementation.

Conclusion

Riau Province’s experience in preparing jurisdictional nesting for REDD+ demonstrates that success depends on more than the ability to calculate emissions and establish baselines. Equally important foundations include government commitment, collaboration across levels, cross-sector coordination, participation by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, development partnerships, capacity building, private-sector involvement, policy breakthroughs, data management, and public communication. Nesting must be understood as a governance architecture that brings different initiatives together within consistent accounting, safeguards, and benefit-sharing systems. This approach can provide certainty for projects and investors, strengthen government accountability, and ensure that communities protecting forests and peatlands receive recognition and equitable benefits. These benefits can only be achieved, however, when technical and institutional arrangements are designed transparently, are verifiable, and respect rights.

Developments in standards and regulations through 2026 underscore the need for Riau to continue updating its operational framework, including alignment with the latest TREES version and national regulations on carbon economic value and forestry-sector carbon trading. By combining historical lessons with continuous system strengthening, Riau’s experience has the potential to inform other provinces. Replication does not mean copying a uniform model; it means adapting its principles to each region’s ecological, social, economic, and institutional circumstances.

References

Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART). (2026). ART releases TREES 3.0, opening new pathways for jurisdictions to join and streamlining the path to high-integrity forest crediting. Document link

Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. (2026). Minister of Forestry Regulation No. 6 of 2026 on procedures for carbon trading through greenhouse gas emission offsets in the forestry sector. State Bulletin of the Republic of Indonesia, 2026, No. 238.

Republic of Indonesia. (2025). Presidential Regulation No. 110 of 2025 on the implementation of carbon economic value instruments and national greenhouse gas emission control. State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia, 2025, No. 172.

UN-REDD Program. (2013). Guidelines on free, prior and informed consent. United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries. Website

UN-REDD Program. (2024). REDD+ Academy: Nesting journal—Key considerations for nesting: Carbon accounting, governance and safeguards. Document link

World Bank. (2021). Nesting of REDD+ initiatives: Manual for policymakers. World Bank. Document link

Author:

I Wayan Susi Dharmawan


Bambang Arifatmi

  • Country Coordinator UNEP UN-REDD Indonesia
  • ⁠⁠Head of Applied Green Economy Innovation, HA IPB

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views and opinions of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views, policies, or positions of GREEN for Riau or its implementing partners