Helping to Prevent Rainforest Deforestation

New Perimeter provided pro bono legal support from 2008-2010 to HRH Prince of Wales Rainforest Project, an initiative launched to identify appropriate incentives to encourage rainforest nations to slow their deforestation rates and to raise awareness of the link between rainforests and climate change.

The goal of the project was to work with governments, the corporate sector, and NGOs to stop deforestation of the rainforests and devise ways to make them profitable and self-sufficient. One aspect of the project was to assess land tenure rights relating to the rainforests with emphasis on the rights of indigenous peoples.

New Perimeter lawyers researched land tenure rights in Peru and Colombia. The focus of the work was to assess, in conjunction with local counsel, pertinent legislation, customary law, and actual practice; to compare local law with international norms and best practices; and to develop strategies for legal developments that encourage collaboration among and between government, local communities and the corporate sector to promote reforestation and other means for making rainforests profitable and self-sustaining.