Rainforest families to reap benefits of carbon market

Located on the Colombia-Panama border in the Sierra del Darien, the initiative involves around 1,000 Afro-Colombian, mestizo and indigenous families. The monies will be received from the emerging voluntary carbon market and the community plan to dedicate it to five main investment areas: local forest governance; income generating projects (e.g. ecotourism and chocolate growing); forest monitoring; reforestation; and, improved logging practices.

Until now, the community has made a living mainly from agriculture and logging. Cattle ranching, too, has been a major threat to regional biodiversity and the new palm oil industry is applying further pressure to this delicate ecosystem. The forest here is part of the Choco-Darien Conservation Corridor which aims to protect some 5 million hectares of forest along the Pacific edge of Northern Colombia.

Collective land-ownership and strong community organisation are considered important elements for the Acandi initiative. Assisted by US anthropologist Brodie Ferguson, the Acandi project is half-owned by the community itself and plans to provide the villagers with a core income for the next 30 to 40 years. One of the keys identified to ensure the project's long term success is a programme of ongoing training in Acandi community administration and the development of appropriate financial systems.

Distinguished by its emphasis on the importance of community participation and ownership of forest conservation initiatives, a new company - Anthrotect Ltd - has been established to manage the project is collaboration with the Fund fro Environmental Action, a Bogota based NGO.

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