A research study by the University of Bath evaluated a two-year pilot program by Cool Earth, which provided an unconditional basic income (about £2 per day) to 211 Indigenous participants across three Asháninka and Yanesha communities in the Peruvian Amazon. The direct, unconditional cash transfers led nearly 90 percent of participants to engage in environmental protection, such as reforestation and reducing forest burning. Furthermore, the program significantly improved food security, reduced temporary job migration from 43% to 18%, and fostered local leadership. Researchers concluded that financial stability relieves poverty-driven destructive activities, empowering Indigenous populations to more effectively protect their native ecosystems.
Environment Pulse Desk: The University of Bath conducted a research study on a two-year pilot program that provided an unconditional basic income (equivalent to approximately £2 per day) to Indigenous populations living within the Peruvian Amazon. The study indicated that the pilot program was associated with greater efforts to protect the rainforest. Cool Earth, a UK based charity, ran the pilot program which provided 211 participants from three different Asháninka and Yanesha communities with six cash transfers totaling 1,032 Peruvian soles each. Each participant received the money directly and could use it however they wished.
The vast majority (nearly 90 percent) of participants engaged in environmental protection activities, including large-scale reforestation, the restoration of essential water supplies, and reducing the practice of burning forests. participants’ food security increased significantly; the percentage of households that could not purchase healthy food decreased from 73 percent to 26 percent.
The rate of temporary migration for jobs decreased significantly (from 43% to 18%) which allowed a higher percentage of the population to stay on their native lands and help protect them. The researchers discovered that when people have increased financial stability and independence, they can spend more time protecting the environment instead of being forced into cutting trees or other destructive activities due to poverty. In addition to providing financial stability, the program helped establish local organizations and leadership within the community.
Dr Nick Langridge, an author of the study, said that the ability for communities to protect their ecosystem is enhanced by having increased security and autonomy. While this was a small pilot project, the results provide support for direct payment programs being used as a practical method of protecting resources. Indigenous populations have historically served as the best protectors of the Amazon and removing the economic pressure which forces destructive behaviors seems to increase the effectiveness of this role.
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