Scores of non-governmental organizations are trying to help indigenous people out of poverty by showing them how to earn carbon credits for managing their forests, but not all are getting results.  NGO veteran James Gray says that if NGOs really want to help, they have to cede more control to indigenous groups – and they have to convince those groups that they're in it for the long haul.  He offers this example from his own experience with CARE in Guatemala.

Wandojo Siswanto, one of the lead negotiators for Indonesia's delegation at last year's climate talks in Copenhagen and a key architect of its Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) program, has been arrested and charged with receiving bribes.

This article originally appeared on Mongabay.com and is reprinted here with permission.  View the original story here

Nigerian businessman, politician, and activist Odigha Odigha has managed to slow deforestation in his native Cross River State by taking on loggers and lobbying for the creation of a state forestry board.  Now he’s a leading proponent of using carbon finance to help preserve what’s left of the country’s once vast rainforest.