In synergy with the agricultural extensification to low current use value lands there are also options to increase yields in the oil palm and pulp and paper sector (Dros 2003; Sheil et al. 2009). Especially for the oil palm industry, such a yield in productiv- ity in combination with a redirection of development of new oil palm plantations has been argued to be sufficient to buffer anticipated doubling in growth without a need to open up new forest areas (e.g. Dros 2003, MoFor 2008).
Te above discussion did not include ecosystem services be- yond climate regulation and as such it provides for a con- servative value for the forest ecosystem services scenario. If a mechanism existed in which the value of non-carbon related ecosystem services could be properly valued and realized by
buyers the above proposition to start conserving forests for their economic value would become far more attractive. With the total value for ecosystem services beyond climate regula- tion being USD 3,735 US/ha over a 30-year period (Figure 6), it is clear that adding values for other ecosystem services to the values for avoided CO2
emissions from deforestation would
make the lowest range value for forest on mineral soils based on carbon prices used in this study competitive with even oil palm plantations. Although establishing such a system faces some of the same hurdles as that of setting up a REDD mech- anism, it is not without precedents from other countries and if realized could yield potentially staggering win-win situations where economic growth is achieved in synchrony with biodi- versity conservation and human well-being.
Figure 6: The value of non-carbon ecosystem services for the Leuser Ecosystem. Values for the various non-carbon ecosystem services (water, regulation of floods and landslides, fisheries, prevention and limitation of fires, agriculture, tourism, and non- timber forest products (NTFP) and biodiversity) are from van Beukering et al. (2003) and were calculated with a discount rate of 4% over a 30-year period. Total value is USD 3,735/ha.
Figure 7: The distribution of benefits under different land use scenarios in the Leuser Ecosystem. Net present value (NPV) is in millions of USD over a 30-year period (2000-2030) at a 4% discount rate (van Beukering et al. 2003). The most pronounced differences is for local communities where under a deforestation scenario the NPV would be 3,132 million USD and under a conservation scenario 5,341 million USD.