Solomon Islands
The BabatanaRainforest Conservation Project aims at protecting thelast primary forests in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The core project aim is to reduce carbon emissions by changing forest management, over an area of 836 hectares, from industrial logging to forest protection.
The project will protect watersheds resulting in the maintenance of healthy river systems as a high quality source of drinking water and as habitat for aquatic species.
Forest protection will reduce the vulnerability of local communities to climate related risks through reducing the impact of extreme rainfall events on soil erosion and flooding.
The project also enables better community governance, the maintenance of a healthy hydrological system, and climate resilience by reducing the impact of extreme rainfall events, especially soil erosion and flooding.
The forest is a fundamental part of the local tribes cultural identity. The Sirebe Tribe is the first project to stop industrial logging thanks to the establishment of a protected area, preserving the livelihood for their tribe and future generations.
Forests of the Solomon Islands host rare forest species such as Rose wood (Pterocarpus indicus), endemic species such as the naked-backed Fruit Bat specie (Dobsonia inermi) and vulnerable and endemic species like the Sanford's fish eagle (Haliaeetus sanfordi).
Babatana rainforests are well known for their isolation and for being a key biodiversity hotspot, recognized by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).There are six indigenous communities in the forests, all belonging to the Sirebe group. Forests are part of their cultural identities and they will be responsible, through a forest governance process, of conservation and equal distribution of benefits among them
The Sirebe community, through the sale of 16.990 carbon credits,has obtained a new source of income. Women’s savings groups were established to ensure women have a say in how community income from credits is spent and join the Women’s Savings Club.
Like many Plan Vivo projects, the Babatana project is coordinated by a local NGO, the Natural Resources Development Foundation.
