Darién REDD+ Portfolio, Colombia

The Darien-Antioquia region, extending from Eastern Panama to the Colombian Pacific coast, is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. 

Implemented with indigenous and afro-Colombian community groups, who own the land, the projects aim to prevent deforestation through a combination of forest protection and sustainable development activities. 

Working with local communities, the projects reduce community dependence on unsustainable timber extraction and unsustainable agricultural practices such as cattle ranching, by providing individual property titling, training and workshops to develop new skills and capacity, and developing sustainable farming techniques for improved livelihoods.

In addition to delivering emissions reductions to help take urgent action to combat climate change (SDG 13), we expect the project to deliver a number of other benefits:

• Life on Land: The project is located in a moist forest ecoregion considered to be one of the most species rich lowlands in the world. By protecting this important ecosystem, the project will directly contribute to protecting, and potentially enhancing species populations in the project zone that feature on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) Red List as Critically Endangered and Endangered.
• Quality Education: By educating communities on collective land rights, forming collective land-use plans, and training on biodiversity assessments, the project is building governance capacity and equipping communities with the necessary skills to improve the management of the protected area.
• Gender Equality: Since the project started, women have successfully occupied many of the administrative positions in project management, and are receiving training in forest management and monitoring.
• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Eight full-time project management roles have been created for managerial and administrative positions, and the forest carbon accounting and forest rangers team. There are also more than 30 part-time jobs for carbon inventory, monitoring, and support roles.