Southeast asian forest carbon projects fail indigenous communities while chasing climate credits, study reveals

A new study exposes troubling gaps in Southeast Asia’s forest carbon offset programs, revealing how climate initiatives designed to protect forests are harming the Indigenous communities who have stewarded these lands for generations.

The research, published in WIREs Climate Change, examined projects like Cambodia’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, where a REDD+ carbon credit scheme launched in 2010. Despite the sanctuary’s rich biodiversity—home to Asian elephants, gibbons, and critically endangered black-shanked douc langurs—Indigenous communities reported serious human rights violations after their ancestral lands were absorbed into the project. These included legal harassment, destruction of crops, and confiscation of property as conflicts arose with project implementers.

Lead researcher Yingshan Lau from the National University of Singapore warns that forest carbon markets create a troubling dynamic where “decisions by more privileged groups of people in one part of the world could affect more vulnerable groups in other parts of the world.” REDD+ programs, which stand for “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,” allow corporations and governments to purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions. While the concept promises to align forest conservation with climate action, the study finds these projects consistently fall short on social justice safeguards.

The findings highlight an urgent need for stronger oversight of carbon offset programs, ensuring they deliver not just climate benefits but also protect the rights and livelihoods of forest communities who are often the most effective guardians of these critical ecosystems.