Strengthening conservation through Indigenous leadership in the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest makes up nearly a third of all the tropical rainforest left on Earth and it acts as a vital carbon sink which stabilises the global climate. Colombia is home to 10% of the Amazon, however certain reserves have become significantly degraded due to deforestation for agriculture and timber. The project is located between the Putumayo and Caquetá rivers and spans part of the largest remaining area of continuous rainforest in Colombia.
To learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals verified by the standard for this project, please check the project's registry link above.
The REDD+ Project pueblos indígenas resguardando la selva project is a community-driven initiative led by four Indigenous associations within the Predio Putumayo reserve, aimed at reducing carbon emissions caused by deforestation and unplanned degradation across more than 3 million hectares of Amazon rainforest. By identifying, prioritising, and implementing forest management strategies, the project draws on ancestral traditions and local knowledge. It promotes practices such as chagra, which is effective in conserving forest cover, and strengthens the harmony between Indigenous communities and their environment.
The project aims to the fight against climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and restoring degraded forest areas, enabling CO2 sequestration. At the same time, it seeks to protect and promote Indigenous traditions and cultures that have been deeply connected to the forest for centuries. By strengthening local governance and safeguarding the Amazon’s biodiversity, the initiative aims to preserve cultural identity and the Amazon's vital role in maintaining global ecological balance.
In line with our commitment to promote a high-integrity carbon market, South Pole is actively exploring to transition selected REDD+ projects to Verra's updated and more robust methodology, VM0048, designed to enhance the measurement and verification of environmental outcomes. This transition may result in an updated project baseline. South Pole is proactively coordinating with Verra on the outstanding requirements and data for fully implementing the VM0048 methodology. For this reason, South Pole is limiting the total volume of Verra-verified carbon credits currently in issuance from this project in past vintage years, and adopting a conservative approach to credit sales to uphold transparency and market confidence.
