Drawa Rainforest Conservation Project (Fiji)

The Drawa Rainforest Conservation Project is Fiji's first indigenous-owned REDD+ carbon project and the first voluntary carbon project in the Pacific certified under the Plan Vivo Standard. Located on Vanua Levu, it covers 4,120 hectares of tropical rainforest, of which 1,723 hectares are eligible to generate Plan Vivo Certificates, and was developed through a partnership between the Drawa mataqali (traditional landowning clans), Live & Learn Fiji, and Ekos.

To conserve tropical rainforest on customary land by having the landowning mataqali forgo logging rights in exchange for ongoing carbon payments, securing additionality against what the project describes as the forest's most significant deforestation threat.

In May 2018, the eight Drawa mataqali formally surrendered their logging rights and became the first village community in Fiji to trade carbon under the voluntary carbon market, receiving quarterly carbon payments. At the national level, the project is nested within Fiji's Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank's FCPF, signed in January 2021.

The Drawa mataqali received initial proceeds of FJ$20,700 in May 2018, and the project generates approximately 18,800 tCO₂e of verified carbon credits per year. Fiji's national ERPA with the World Bank's FCPF covers up to US$12.5 million for 3.5 million tCO₂e over 2020-2024, making Fiji the first Small Island Developing State (SIDS) to sign such an agreement.

The Drawa project is recognised as a model for community-level forest stewardship within Fiji's national REDD+ framework, and was featured by Mongabay in September 2023 as a landmark example of Pacific indigenous forest governance combined with verified carbon market revenue.