Living forests, living rights
Advancing social integrity in climate action
Protecting the world’s forests is inseparable from protecting the rights of the people who live within them. Across Latin America, Indigenous Peoples, women and traditional communities are leading climate action on the ground. Experiences from Brazil, Costa Rica and Ecuador show that forest carbon initiatives succeed only when communities act as rights-holders, decision-makers and stewards of their ecosystems.
Brazil: Forests guided by communities
Amid centuries-old kapok, Brazil nut and cedar trees, Indigenous and traditional communities remain the architects of the Amazon. Guided by generations of knowledge and daily practice, they shape the health and future of these forests. In Brazil, the Floresta+ Amazônia project has redefined what it means to link forest protection with community rights. Launched in 2020, Floresta+ funds projects that Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities design and run themselves – communities who have safeguarded their forests long before carbon markets existed.
Photo by: André Zumak
Photo by: André Zumak
“The projects follow the principle that has been repeated by Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities: nothing about us without us. They are developed in a participatory way, taking into account the realities of the communities,” said Edel Moraes, National Secretary for Traditional Peoples and Communities and Sustainable Rural Development at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil about the Floresta+ Comunidades program. Participatory processes ensure that Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is not a formality but a living practice: communities decide which activities matter most, whether territorial monitoring, agroecology, forest restoration, or socio-bioeconomic initiatives.
In Maranhão for instance, the Guerreiras da Floresta (‘Forest Warriors’) patrol over 172,000 hectares, blending traditional knowledge and modern technology to defend forests. Poliana Moreira Guajajara, 25, from the village of Maçaranduba in the Caru Indigenous Land, leads the Forest Warriors in protecting their ancestral territory from fires and illegal deforestation. She explains, “Protecting and conserving our ancestral lands is essential to who we are…this project fills us with pride because it strengthens our ability to safeguard our homeland.”
Photo: Guerreiras da Floresta
Photo: Guerreiras da Floresta
Photo: Guerreiras da Floresta
Photo: Guerreiras da Floresta
Women’s leadership is a cornerstone of the program of the Floresta+ Amazônia project. Across territories, women are organizers, technicians, and decision-makers, helping run restoration plots, bio-enterprises and conservation patrols. Agronomist Ana Paula Oliveira highlights the critical importance of protecting the Amazon, pointing to a Floresta+-supported project in the Cachoeira do Aruã community in Pará that successfully preserved nearly 26 hectares of native forest. She notes, “The project came to demonstrate that we don’t need to deforest to plant. We need to keep the Amazon alive and standing.”
Agronomist Ana Paula Oliveira emphasizes the critical importance of preserving the Amazon rainforest. Photo: Ana Paula Oliveira
Agronomist Ana Paula Oliveira emphasizes the critical importance of preserving the Amazon rainforest. Photo: Ana Paula Oliveira
Partnerships with institutions such as FUNAI and ICMBio support this work, but illegal mining, fishing and land invasions remain real threats that need stronger action from the State. With direct funding, technical support and participatory governance, Floresta+ has built a model where social integrity and environmental protection reinforce each other.
Costa Rica: Dreams shaping forest futures
The Ngäbe, one of Costa Rica’s largest Indigenous groups, live in sourthern Costa Rica, where their cultural traditions are inseparable from the forests. Their worldview blends stories of animals and gods of the sea and forest with a strong connection to nature, emphasizing the importance of understanding its signs and messages. Although spread across five territories (Conte Burica, Alto Laguna de Osa, Abrojo Montezuma, Altos de San Antonio, and Coto Brus) and separated by up to four hours of travel, the Ngäbe maintain a strong sense of unity and cultural identity.
After more than a decade of dialogue with Costa Rica's National Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO), Ngäbe territories developed their own Forest and Territorial Environmental Plans (PAFTs), which translate community priorities into actionable projects for forests, culture and development.
The Ngäbe also organize community governance and social practices around their territories, ensuring that cultural values, collective decision-making and intergenerational learning guide how they protect and use their forests. As part of broader efforts to preserve and share Ngäbe cosmology, they recently created their first “dream catalogs”, which document and organize dreams based on their traditional worldview. These catalogs capture visions for forests, culture and future generations, reflecting the Ngäbe’s belief in the central role of dreams in spiritual and daily life. As Karolina Montezuma, technical liaison and Ngäbe from Abrojo Montezuma, explains, “For us young people, this is a very important opportunity to get involved and participate in the spaces left by the elders of the territory.” By linking ancestral knowledge, intergenerational dialogue and climate action, the Ngäbe are using this initiative to guide forest planning while strengthening cultural identity.
In the Ngäbere language, “Ngäbe” means “person,” reflecting a worldview in which human identity, community and connection to the land are inseparable. For the Ngäbe people of Costa Rica’s Talamanca region, this principle shapes how they care for their forests and sustain cultural traditions passed down through generations. Photo: Nina Cordero
In the Ngäbere language, “Ngäbe” means “person,” reflecting a worldview in which human identity, community and connection to the land are inseparable. For the Ngäbe people of Costa Rica’s Talamanca region, this principle shapes how they care for their forests and sustain cultural traditions passed down through generations. Photo: Nina Cordero
Costa Rica’s REDD+ approach shows how consultation and FPIC can be both culturally grounded and participatory. Indigenous communities take the lead, shaping decisions and strategies based on their knowledge, priorities and governance structures. Nearly half of all community dialogues are led by Indigenous women, ensuring that their perspectives guide planning and project design. FPIC is embedded at every stage, with cultural mediators bridging Indigenous knowledge and technical REDD+ requirements. As such, the Environmental, Forest and Territorial Plans enable communities to determine land use and fund allocation, combining sustainable management with locally driven decision-making.
Challenges such as illegal land occupation highlight the importance of continued government support. Yet Costa Rica’s experience demonstrates that long-term engagement, structured consultation mechanisms and robust legal frameworks give Indigenous Peoples confidence that REDD+ initiatives respect their rights, governance and visions for the future.
For the Ngäbe, living forests, living rights and their dreams are inseparable. Their dream catalogs and PAFTs are at the same time planning tools and expressions of their cultural knowledge, spiritual beliefs and collective aspirations for forest stewardship and community wellbeing. As one elder from Abrojo Montezuma reflects, “I want to take part now that I can share my thoughts, because once this book is closed, no one will even know what I had written.”
Ecuador: Life Plans and women leading forest protection
With some 12.8 million hectares of natural cover – over two thirds of its land – Ecuador’s forests sustain diverse ecosystems and Indigenous territories where local peoples shape conservation and climate action. The PROAmazonía program, funded by the Green Climate Fund and implemented by UNDP, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and local partners, works with Indigenous communities such as the Shuar and Kichwa to restore forests and strengthen governance through Life Plans (Planes de Vida).
Indigenous Shuar communities in Ecuador’s Amazon, including the Yamanunka territories in Sucumbíos province, have long managed forests as part of their ancestral way of life, linking ecosystem stewardship with cultural identity and collective governance. Shuar leader Irma Tsahuanda reflects on women’s evolving roles: “Before, women did not speak in the assemblies. Today, we lead projects and decide how our forests are protected… we are now reclaiming our role as protectors of the forest.
The Life Plans guide communities’ long-term objectives for forest conservation, restoration, and sustainable livelihoods, while FPIC ensures that all initiatives are culturally appropriate and community-driven. In Yamanunka, women now lead conservation projects – from reforesting native species to preserving ancestral seeds – as part of the community’s Life Plan. Additionally, over 15,000 hectares have been restored in Indigenous lands across the Ecuadorian Amazon, with 3,500 hectares in Yamanunka alone. Restoration activities integrate ecological recovery with sustainable bio-enterprises, supporting local livelihoods while honoring traditional knowledge. PROAmazonía’s participatory approach fosters cohesion, uniting elders, women and youth in shared responsibility for forests and community development.
Shared lessons across countries
Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador highlight common success factors that are as much social as environmental:
- FPIC as a foundation: Participation at every stage ensures projects reflect community priorities.
- Women’s leadership strengthens outcomes: Their active involvement in planning and implementation boosts social cohesion and forest conservation.
- Long-term support and direct funding: Sustained investment in Indigenous organizations enables resilience, local governance, and effective resource management.
- Territorial planning: Community-driven plans anchor projects in existing knowledge, land-use strategies, and cultural values.
- Institutional partnerships: Government, NGOs and Indigenous organizations working together reduce risks from external pressures such as illegal logging, mining, or land encroachment.
Social and environmental integrity are mutually reinforcing
Social integrity is essential to environmental integrity and to the credibility of high quality carbon credits – because well-designed carbon markets depend on actions that are equitable, inclusive and grounded in local realities. The integrity of high-quality carbon credits rests on safeguarding the rights of the communities who protect the forests behind them.
Shuar leader Irma Tsahuanda captures this connection between rights and stewardship: “It is not enough to talk about the forest; we have to walk in it, care for it and make decisions together as a community.” The experiences from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador reveal a common thread: climate initiatives endure when communities guide them. When Indigenous Peoples and local communities shape project design, implementation and governance, forest conservation moves from abstract policy into lived reality.
Learn more
This photo story draws on the case study series Advancing Social Integrity in Forest Carbon Initiatives, which accompanies Consultation and Consent, Module 2 of UNDP’s High-Integrity Carbon Markets Toolkit.
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