In Amazonas, Brazil’s largest state, children and adults are going to school for the first time, families are paid $25 a month and startup businesses and community organizations are getting funded. The money comes from the state government and corporations including Marriott International, two Brazilian banks, Bradesco and Banco de Planeta, and Coca-Cola’s bottler in Brazil.
In return, the Amazon dwellers simply agree not to cut down trees.
This deal—in which companies and governments pay people who pledge not to destroy rainforests—is the essence of a concept known as REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation.
REDD is an important element of the UN climate negotiations unfolding this week here in Copenhagen, as well as a vital – and potentially controversial – plank of the climate bills pending in Congress.
“We will only win this deforestation battle if we can find ways to make the forest worth more standing that they are when cut down,” says Virgilio Viana, direct of Fundacao Amazonas Sustentavel, which oversees the project in the Juma Preserve of the Amazon. Juma is a 1.8 million acre region—about the size of Delaware—which is 98% forested. [click to continue…]
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