One of the last strongholds of forest in the Philippines just got a major boost.

Indigenous leaders on the island of Palawan recently signed a landmark deal to establish the country’s first locally owned forest carbon project. The project, which places a monetary value on the potentially climate-warming carbon stored in trees, aims to halt deforestation through the sale of carbon credits — effectively making the forest more valuable alive than cut down.

• Find out more: What are ‘carbon credits’?

The deal, signed by Conservation International and the Philippine government’s National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, will help protect 39,000 hectares (97,000 acres) of forest within Palawan’s Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, an area considered the last ecological frontier of the country, Mariejo Ramos reported for the news site Context.

• Further reading: Conservation International and Procter & Gamble have worked in the Mantalingahan landscape to support climate efforts, mangrove conservation and community livelihoods. Read more here.

Roughly 12,000 Indigenous Filipinos live in the region, where they rely on nature for food and livelihoods. Illegal mining and logging threaten not only their forests but their way of life. Despite protections, more than 20 percent of Mount Mantalingahan’s mangroves and forests have been lost in the past 20 years, driven in large part by mining for minerals such as nickel, which is used in electric vehicles, solar panels and more.

Research shows that Indigenous Peoples are the strongest defenders of the forests, and Panglima Norlito Silnay, a leader of the Pala'wan Indigenous group, told Context that he hopes the project can be managed by the community “without interference from business or individuals seeking to take advantage of the resources.”

This project’s impact looks to extend beyond the Philippines, galvanizing other Indigenous-led carbon projects around the globe, Wilson Barbon of Conservation International’s Philippines program told Context. The agreement recognizes Indigenous groups as rightful benefactors of the carbon stored in their forests, he said.

Carbon trading in the Philippines is still in its infancy, Ramos wrote, and the government does not yet have a system for the sale of carbon credits to businesses looking to purchase them.

While Barbon acknowledged the debate over the efficacy of carbon credits, he says he is hopeful that this new venture sets a standard for more valuable carbon credits by also factoring in biodiversity and community engagement.

"We recognize that there are concerns," Barbon told Context. "Our position is that instead of shutting down the entire system, we strive to improve it."

Next year, the project will begin producing revenue from the carbon credits that will be re-invested in further conservation in the area.

Read the full story from Context here.

Mary Kate McCoy is a staff writer at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates. Also, please consider supporting our critical work.