Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Conservation and Development Implications of a United Nations Environmental Initiative in Aceh, Indonesia.

这项博士论文研究将通过印度尼西亚亚齐的Ulu Masen项目的案例研究，评估为实现联合国发起的一项重大气候变化缓解倡议的潜在竞争目标所做的努力，该项目是世界上最大、最成熟的此类项目之一。联合国最初设想其减少毁林和森林退化所致排放量(REDD)倡议完全是作为一项以市场为基础的气候变化缓解战略。在批评者的压力下，联合国和其他机构最近扩大了S议程，将保护和可持续人类发展目标(REDD+)包括在内，因此有了“+”。REDD的这种重新设想承诺了一个“三赢”的解决方案，因为它同时促进了绿色经济增长(通过碳市场)、保护环境和提高当地社区的福祉。迄今为止，缺乏衡量更广泛的REDD+政策议程有效性的强有力的实证研究。现有研究往往侧重于与执行有关的技术问题，而这项研究将具体审查关键问题，以评估REDD+项目促进该项目所在区域的保护和发展的能力。将在班达亚齐乌卢马森地区的两个村庄进行为期十个月的实地考察，在此期间，将通过住户调查、焦点小组讨论、参与者观察、半结构化和深入访谈以及档案研究来收集数据。拟议的研究将通过记录和分析在REDD+倡议下实施的一系列创新，有助于更好地理解气候变化文献中的REDD+。它将构成一项实证研究，分析REDD+政策制定者设想的扩大议程的有效性。拟议的研究还将审查地方机构在制定全球REDD+议程方面的重要性。鉴于REDD+项目正在印度尼西亚实施，世界第二大森林砍伐碳排放贡献者S及其最关键的生物多样性热点之一表明，它有可能作为未来气候缓解倡议的典范进行密切监测。这项研究创造的新知识的更广泛影响将是帮助决策者开发更好的工具来评估气候变化缓解项目，从而确保此类项目在未来更有可能改善人类发展并增强依赖森林的社区的能力。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究事业。

This doctoral dissertation research will assess efforts to attain the potentially competing goals of a major United Nations-sponsored climate change mitigation initiative through a case study of the Ulu Masen project in Aceh, Indonesia, one of the largest and most well-established such projects in the world. The United Nations originally conceived of its Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) initiative exclusively as a market based climate change mitigation strategy. Under pressure from critics, the UN and other agencies have recently expanded the program?s agenda to include conservation and sustainable human development goals (REDD+), hence the "plus." This re-envisioning of REDD promised a "triple win" solution because it simultaneously promoted green economic growth (via carbon markets), protected the environment, and enhanced local community well-being. To date, robust empirical studies that gauge the effectiveness of the broader REDD+ policy agenda have been absent. Existing studies have tended to focus on technical issues related to implementation whereas this study will specifically examine critical questions to assess the abilities of the REDD+ project to contribute to the conservation and development of the region in which it is being implemented. Fieldwork in two village sites in the Ulu Masen area, Banda Aceh will be conducted over a period of ten months, during which time data will be gathered via a household survey, focus group discussions, participant observation, semi-structured and in-depth interviews, and archival research. The proposed research will contribute to a better understanding of REDD+ in the climate change literature through documenting and analyzing the set of innovations that have been implemented under the 'plus' in REDD+ initiatives. It will constitute an empirical study that analyzes the effectiveness of the expanded agenda envisioned by REDD+ policy makers. The proposed study will also examine the significance of local agency in shaping the global REDD+ agenda. Given that the REDD+ project is being implemented in Indonesia, the world?s second largest contributor of carbon emissions resulting from deforestation and one of its most critical biodiversity hotspots, suggest its potential for close monitoring as a model for future climate mitigation initiatives. The broader impact of the new knowledge created by this research will be to assist policy makers to develop better tools for the assessment of climate change mitigation projects, thereby ensuring that such projects are more likely to improve human development and empower forest dependent communities in the future. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.