The proposed four-year programme would consolidate the gains made in RUPES-I, with the overall goal of “Rewards for provision of environmental services flow to poor people in a number of Asian countries”. This would be achieved via the purpose of “dissemination of appropriate RES mechanisms via national policies, buyers of ES and rural development initiatives”. Achievement of these objectives would be measured via monitoring of the schemes that have been established with RUPES-II support. As for RUPES I, the programme will fund the development of processes and the formation of an enabling environment for RES.
The programme aims at reaching indigenous forest dwellers and small farmers in less productive environments, vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change. RUPES-II will make a special effort to ensure that these benefits reach women. There would also be a systematic approach to gathering information on how schemes have affected the lives of women – both positively and negatively.
The programme will comprise five main components:
- National policy framework: The programme would contribute to policy frameworks for voluntary, realistic, conditional and pro-poor RES. It would help national policy makers to knowledgeably participate in international fora to establish and implement effective international payment schemes. RUPES-II will aim to have a significant impact on policy in at least four countries. RUPES-II will also support local governments to develop RES schemes, and will examine institutional constraints, such as conflicting jurisdiction over the regulation of the environment services. RUPES-II will facilitate dialogues among the stakeholders to enhance the adoption of policy and institutional options in RES schemes. Mainstreaming in government policies together with strengthening of local capacity and bargaining power of the rural poor should provide an exit strategy for project-level interventions.
- International and national buyer and investor engagement: RUPES-II will open opportunities for business partners in RES schemes and to engage in discussions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a means of obtaining environmental benefit sharing. In the context of upcoming compensation mechanisms for REDD, RUPES-II will engage in testing innovative institutional arrangements for international investment in reducing the driving forces of deforestation through partnerships with forest-based communities. This component will research and develop mechanisms to make carbon markets and carbon finance accessible to IFAD’s clientele. RUPES-II will publicize opportunities for buyers to participate in reward schemes, and provide technical assistance to sellers to develop their business cases and draw up contracts.
- Environmental service intermediaries enabled: RUPES-II will provide support to brokers of RES, such as interested local NGOs and local governments, in order to cost-effectively link ES supply to demand. RUPES-II, with funding from BMZ, will further develop the rapid assessment methods pioneered in RUPES-I and work with universities in the region to create local capacity for cost-effective brokerage of RES in the scoping and negotiating stages.
- Innovations in effective, efficient and pro-poor RES mechanisms: RUPES-II will continue its partnerships with the current action research sites in Indonesia, Philippines and Nepal, forming these into centres to disseminate RES. RUPES-II will also test new options for RES, continuing the scoping for financial as well as non-financial reward mechanisms, at community and household levels, in line with the poverty reduction mechanisms identified in RUPES-I. To gain experience with carbon, it is proposed to add two learning sites for new mechanisms under the REDD umbrella. Given the size of peatland emissions and prevailing poverty in these areas, one new site would be in this domain. Another would be in an upland forest area. For other ES reward schemes, RUPES-II will consider expanding networks of learning sites in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and China, with other sources of funding for site-level activities, and management by RUPES International Advisory Committee’s partners.
- Mainstream RES into IFAD rural development initiatives: with at least 20% of new IFAD projects in Asia actively considering incorporating RES into their strategies. RUPES-II will disseminate communication materials and lessons, including Technical Advisory Notes (TANs), to national governments, IFAD CPMs, country teams and projects to raise awareness of the potential for RES. RUPES-II will provide opportunities for workshops and capacity building, and also offer to provide inputs at the design stage of new IFAD projects and contribute to IFAD’s knowledge on pro-poor RES and link its activities on knowledge management to IFAD’s Rural Poverty Portal. At least two sites in IFAD funded projects will benefit as action research sites of RUPES-II, in Vietnam (Programme for improving market participation of the poor) and in the Philippines (CHARM II). Close links will be maintained with the IFAD-supported PRESA and Green Water Credits projects in Africa that addresses similar issues in an African context.