REDD+ Policy Networks: Information Sharing and Coalition Building in Times of Change

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is a highly contested policy domain, especially in a complex socio-political-ecology system such as Indonesia. Multiple actors with diverse and often conflicting agendas are engaged in the politics of (not) avoiding deforestation. We followed the REDD policy process since 2007, at the time of the UNFCCC conference in Bali, Indonesia. We apply a mixed method of institutional analysis combined with discourse and policy network analysis at different points in time. Data on policy networks was collected in 2011, with 65 actors and in 2015, with 80 actors who responded to the network questions. We focus on structural changes and dynamics in coalition building in the REDD+ policy arena at national level, and the implications of such changes for the effectiveness of information sharing and collaboration in REDD+ policy making. Findings demonstrate how REDD has been established and contested over time with various strategic actors conflicting and dominating the design, thereby often promoting their own interests. In the process, some coalitions have become more prominent with more across sector information on REDD+ issues exchanged. The paper is part of a longitudinal study that provide an opportunity to understand changes in network structures and power relations over time in a highly dynamic policy arena.