Milestones
- Sirebe Protected Area: 2019
- Sirebe credits verified: 2021
- Sirebe second verification: 2025
The Sirebe Forest Carbon Project provides alternative income for Sirebe Tribe in South Choiseul, where forests are threatened by logging and land-clearing.
Sirebe Tribe officially obtained protected area status for their forest in 2019 — the first tribe in Solomon Islands to achieve this milestone. Sirebe were also the first customary landowners in the country to develop a forest carbon project.
Through the project, Sirebe are protecting culturally significant and biodiverse rainforests, and strengthening climate resilience for the community. Forests remain healthy, rivers and lagoons stay free of sediment, and cultural forest management and land rights are upheld.
Income from carbon credit sales has helped cover school fees, village water tanks and sanitation, infrastructure and cyclone recovery. It supports the Sirebe women's group and has boosted new small business with fishing equipment, tools for a mechanic workshop and bakery supplies.
Sirebe belongs to the Babatana language group in South Choiseul and is part of the locally led Babatana Rainforest Conservation Project.
806 hectaresof rainforest legally protected
154,429 tonnesCO2 verified emissions reductions since the project commenced
500 community membersare protecting forests and supporting people
"It's important to protect the forest because protecting the unique species, streams and trees can support the living of people of the Sirebe Tribe. We rely on the forest to obtain our resources for foods, house materials and custom medicine. Protecting the forest will help our tribes in terms of livelihood benefits for now and future generations."
