Post by Forestbase

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 In March, Nick Middeldorp joined our team on the ground for the further development of our REDD project in Meta, Colombia. Coming from years of research on land rights, environmental conflict, and community dynamics across Latin America, he brought a critical and independent perspective to what we are building. What he found reflects the reality of many forest frontiers. Deforestation here is not driven by ignorance, but by a lack of viable alternatives. For many communities, expanding into forest has simply been the only way to sustain livelihoods. But what stood out was the shift that is beginning to take place. During a weekend of community meetings, farmers engaged deeply, asked practical and often tough questions, and ultimately chose to participate. As Nick described it: “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘗𝘐𝘙𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦… 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.” For us, it reinforces a simple idea: real impact starts with trust and viable options on the ground.