Ashaninka Update from Catherine Jacob

At 6 times the size of Britain, the Peruvian Amazon is a vast and vital place, covering two thirds of the country. But a recent rush for its abundant resources means deforestation is now happening here, quicker than anywhere else in South America.

We flew into the jungle to assess the scale of the problem and from the air, the plumes of smoke and bare brown patches were testimony to the logging and mining companies queuing up to slash and burn these trees. As they do so, they're systematically destroying Earth's most crucial defence against climate change.

The rainforest is a carbon sink. In other words, the trees here absorb and hold vast amounts of our carbon emissions. So when they're cut down, they release all that carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Scientists say that every day, deforestation releases as much CO₂ into the air as 8 million people travelling return from London to New York.

The problem is, deforestation means money and that is something the Amazon's indigenous tribes do not have.

In Peru's Cutivereni Valley, the Ashaninka tribe have land rights to 50 000 acres and when illegal loggers came recently, proffering hard cash tribal leader Jaime Pena Lopez had a hard time convincing some in his community to resist the temptation to sell up. He told Sky News:

"Lots of people here in the village don't understand the environmental importance of the rainforest. It's hard for them to look any further than our community here in Tinkereni, to understand the concept that we live on a planet."

The environmental charity, Cool Earth, stepped in to support the community, devising a unique scheme to make the tribe's trees as valuable still standing as they are when felled.

It's encouraging the British public to select and sponsor an area of Ashaninka forest. £70 will effectively pay for the tribe to protect one acre from deforestation.

One acre of forest locks in 260 tonnes of CO₂, or as much as the annual carbon footprint of ten British families.

The charity is convinced that using direct people power is the quickest solution to halt deforestation.

Duncan Clark, Cool Earth's Climate Change Advisor told us:

"A key part of what Cool Earth does is to show that these small scale models can work. We very much hope that government's around the world will roll out the scheme on a wider basis."

For now though, the protected area here in Peru is just one small victory against the rampant deforestation that is taking place not just here, but in rainforests across the world.