One of Panama's leading traditional indigenous authorities, the Guna General Congress, in June banned a project aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The Congress, which controls about 7% of Panama's primary forests, went further, forbidding organizations in the Guna Yala territory from engaging in REDD+ activities, and walked out of REDD+ discussions. We believe that this crisis stems from a failure to build REDD+ capacity for indigenous people at all levels: it is time to pay more than lip service to their full and effective participation in REDD+.

REDD+ started well in Panama. The country put the rights of indigenous peoples on the agenda of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and REDD+ project promoters complied with consent procedures of the Guna General Congress. Panama's National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples (COONAPIP) drafted a plan in 2011 for comprehensive REDD+ capacity-building efforts in each indigenous territory. This would have stimulated debates about fears that REDD+ might threaten traditional land uses and rights, as well as possible ways forward. Knowledge transfer is the best antidote for the fear of REDD+.

The plan failed to receive UN funding. COONAPIP withdrew from the UN-REDD programme in February and called on indigenous peoples globally to proceed cautiously on REDD-related matters. If this fear of participation spreads beyond Guna Yala, the programme could be jeopardized in other Latin American countries.