What We Believe
Forests are best kept standing in the hands of the people who live in, depend on and have protected them for years.
• The next global agreement on climate must recognize the importance of protecting forests and must reward efforts that effectively keep forests standing.
• Forest peoples must be at the centre of any strategy to halt forest destruction and keep forests standing in the future.
• Rights to and control of forest lands and resources must be clarified and formalized before any payments for forest protection are implemented.
• Payments for forest protection must not amount to excuses not to reduce emissions in industrialized countries.
• The focus should be on improving forest governance and regulations first, and money second.
• Strategies to halt forest destruction must consider the underlying drivers of deforestation, and not simply the immediate causes.
Click Rainforests and Climate Change for more information.
