A new research project will study how participatory forest monitoring can be a viable option to achieve long-term forest conservation goals by including animal species in the scope of forest conservation schemes.

It has been ten years since the global climate community agreed that a financial mechanism to support reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) must play a role in fighting climate change. Since then, a vast number of research projects have studied how REDD+ can be implemented in practice, and it has become apparent that paying local landowners for keeping trees is not a fix for sustainable forest management in its own right.

Very seldom forest communities are treated as true partners in project development together with organizations, companies or the government.

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Kichwa people wake up before dawn with their families to drink a caffeinated infusion of boiled leaves from the guayusa tree (Ilex guayusa). They discuss the lessons from their dreams and use them to plan for the day ahead.