The UK government-funded forestry governance project was launched by the UK government in Solomon Islands this week. It will focus on developing a new carbon market which will preserve forested areas and at the same time provide benefits to local communities.
RISE stands for Rights, Integrity, Safeguards and Equity in carbon markets and the programme is designed to promote best practice for community-owned forest carbon projects, helping ensure benefits remain with local communities.
RISE is about putting local leadership, customary land rights and fair benefit-sharing at the core of Solomon Islands’ growing carbon market.
Live and Learn Solomon Islands is leading the RISE initiative locally, in collaboration with Live and Learn International, Nakau and Plan Vivo Foundation.
At the launch, British High Commissioner H.E. Paul Turner said that RISE was about promoting forest conservation and giving local communities the voice and motivation to preserve their forest lands.
Forestry is part of the identity of the people of Solomon Islands - we have to do more to preserve it. This project will give local communities tangible benefits from preserving their environment.
Turner said the UK government is working with the Solomon Islands government to strengthen governance across all natural resources – forestry and mining. Turner said people in Solomon Islands looked at the logging sector of the past and did not want the mining sector to go the same way. He said forested areas in Solomon Islands desperately needed to be preserved and carbon markets gave local communities the means to do this and benefit from the conservation.
Launched on Tuesday 25 August 2026 in Honiara, the RISE event highlighted the importance of forest conservation carbon projects in Solomon Islands and called for continued collaboration between all actors for policies and practices that support locally led and rights-based programmes.
It was attended by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology Mr David Hiriasia; officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Forestry and Research; the British and New Zealand High Commission offices and representatives from NGOs and local community leaders.
A central focus of RISE is ensuring national carbon policy reflects customary land ownership, and that benefits flow equitably to landowners.
Nakau’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Sebastian Thomas said carbon markets can play an important role in supporting sustainable livelihoods and better stewardship of natural systems. He said:
Well established carbon markets can help turn good stewardship of forest lands into sustainable livelihoods and successful regenerative businesses.
RISE is being launched in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia this month. Across the three countries, the project will share knowledge and evidence from different areas, advocating for locally-led carbon initiatives.