Rainforest landowners praise REDD

Rainforest protection clauses aimed at encouraging developers to save their land rather than clear it have been praised.

Speaking to the Guardian, leader of the council in the Colombian village of Penaloza Cordoba said: "We have a special relationship with the land. Now we went to conserve it, but we need to live. So far, environmental NGOs have only offered us crumbs."

However, new rainforest deals which pay landowners to protect rather than clear are "the best opportunity yet", he said.

Penaloza is a prime spot for such rainforest protection deals, said the newspaper.

"A hectare of rainforest can be cleared in one day with a chainsaw, or in three without. If the clearing stops, there would be payments for each family to compensate lost agricultural income, as well as jobs for some in monitoring forest cover," it said.

One of the biggest issues in tackling deforestation and related climate change is that currently, many rainforests are worth more cut down then they are standing - so any tropical forest protection acts need to make sure that rainforest dwellers are not left in the financial lurch by such plans.

Written by Kimberley Homer.

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