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Possible Corruption Risks to Successful Implementation of Redd+ in Bangladesh

Md. Danesh Miah
Corresponding author
Institute of Forestry & Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh

S. M. Raihan Abedin
Institute of Forestry & Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Deforestation and forest degradation are the important causal agents to global climate change. REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation along with conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forest) is a recently adopted global initiative to mitigate global climate change by conserving the forests and its carbon. Bangladesh is still in the preparatory phase of the REDD+ program. Assessing the potential risks of corruption is important to the setting up of strategies of REDD+ implementation. So, a study was conducted in the Madhupur, Sreemangal and Rangamati forest areas to assess these risks. The study was conducted through three types of surveys and interviews. It was found that there is a chance of potential corruption risks while implementing REDD+ program in Bangladesh. Political leaders and other powerful groups may manipulate the policy-making and development strategies of REDD+. Financial management, benefit-sharing and procurement management in the REDD+ program should be considered in the corruption risks analysis. There is a chance of diversion or embezzlement of REDD+ funds, laundering of money and elite capture of REDD+ benefits. Over estimation of costs and collusions in the bidding may also occur while implementing REDD+. For the successful and transparent implementation of REDD+, this possible risks should be taken into consideration. This study can be partially useful to fixing up the REDD+ strategies in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Service delivery, Carbon and non-carbon benefit, Financial management, Procurement management, Safeguards

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-06-2013

End Date: 00-02-2014

Program Area: Conservation and Biodiversity

Commodity: Tree

Objectives:

To bridge over the knowledge gaps of the possible corruption risks for the successful implementation of REDD+ in Bangladesh.

Methodology:

To address the objectives, the study was accomplished by Online Survey, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informants Interviews (KII). The study was conducted during the period of June 2013 through February 2014. The online survey used the ‘Survey Monkey’ professional version. The survey requested 200 respondents for the online survey. Among them, Survey Monkey received only 68 responses. There were 88% male and 12% female respondents in the online survey. The age classes of 20 to 35 and 36 to 50 years separately represented the most respondents as 47% and 46%, respectively. There were 2% respondents below 20 years old, 5% between 51 to 65 years old and 2% above 65 years old. The online survey considered respondents from different work class and institutions, i.e., Local Government, Business Sector, International Institutions, Non-Government Organizations, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, Academic Institutions, FD, Civil Society, Government Administration, Sawmill, Furniture Industry, and Anti-corruption Agency. The highest number (16%) of respondents in online survey was from International institutions/Groups and the lowest number (1%) was in Local Governments. About 26% of respondents had the experience of working over 10 years. The working experience of over five years was of 4% respondents. On the other hand, about 8% of respondents had working experience of 3 to 5 years and other 8% had 1 to 3 years. There was no respondent who had a working experience of less than one year. For FGD and KII, the study interviewed the people onsite in Madhupur, Sreemangal and Rangamati. The FGD considered four groups separately, i.e., timber traders, sawmill owners, furniture makers, and forest-dependent people. The members in a group were in a range of 20-30. The total number of the FGD was 12. For KII, we considered the local journalist, academician, leader of the ethnic community, lawyer, NGO activist, and officer of the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission. The total number of the key informant interviewees was 15 in the survey. For the study, all the selection of the respondents was purposive.

Source of Information: The Chittagong Univ. J. Sci. 41(1) : 1-20 , 2019

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/cujs.v41i1.51912

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The study revealed that there is a chance of potential corruption risks when implementing REDD+ in Bangladesh. Political leaders and other powerful groups may influence policy development and performance management in REDD+. There is a chance of manipulation of data on carbon and non-carbon reporting and misleading and fraudulent claims on carbon rights when implementing REDD+ in Bangladesh. Abuse of discretion in the selection of the person to receive training, to receive incentives and selection of personnel may occur during the implementation of REDD+. Diversion or embezzlement of REDD+ funds, money laundering and elite capture of REDD+ benefits are the major issues related to the financial management and benefit sharing in REDD+. Procurement management risks that may be occurred are overestimation of the costs and collusion between the politicians, investors and REDD+ implementers in the bidding or approval of contracts can be taken into consideration. The findings of this study are expected to contribute partially to the REDD+ strategy development by considering the possible potential risks during the implementation of REDD+ program in Bangladesh.

Knowledge Management: Journal