Over 1.6 billion people depend on forests for some part of their livelihoods, but only 9 per cent is legally owned by forest-dependent and indigenous communities.
The law, named REDD+, stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, the plus referring to protecting rights of forest dwellers.
It is likely to be one of the few, if not only, outcomes of the UN climate summit. Countries which protect their forests can receive funds from others which want to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Tom B.K. Goldtooth from the Indigenous Environment Network told journalists that there was no agreement on REDD+. "We are not ready for it: there are no guarantees on safeguards for forest communities. We must address the root causes which concern governance of forests."
He wanted an investigation into the "demand side" of the law, which concerned the use of forests globally to provide beef, timber and logging for multinational companies, abetted by the World Bank.
"There should be collective titling of land," he said. "People don't want money but justice."
The UN definition of forest was too large and included commercial plantations, monocultures and even genetically modified species of trees. "The law will displace and disenfranchise women, who form 70 per cent of the world's poor," Ann Petermann of the Global Justice Ecological Programme complained.
"Take REDD+ out of the market and ensure land rights," she said. Otherwise, forest land will be sold off to the highest bidder." The global North was interested in the legal mechanism because it would enable them to offset their carbon dioxide emissions.
In Peru, the Environment Ministry plans to implement REDD+ on 54 million hectares of the Peruvian Amazon, which would open the doors to more than half of forested territory to the carbon markets.
In Ecuador, the government has started plantations on land belonging to indigenous people, according to Marlon Santi, President of CONAI, a confederation of indigenous peoples in that country. It is about the lease out such land for 30 years, which has evoked furious protests from indigenous groups.
"We are saying No to REDD+ in Ecuador because we want to exist; decide the future of our children," Santi said. The groups today released a reader titled NO REDD! Other titles of books released in Cancun include Do Trees Grow on Money? and Facing an Uncertain Future.
Photograph: Reuters