Cash with no strings attached helped three Asháninka communities tend the forest

A two-year pilot in three communities in Peru's Asháninka region gave 211 adults an unconditional basic income, and most of them reported practices that care for the forest. The Guardian reported the University of Bath analysis on October 20, 2026.

Cool Earth made six cash transfers of 1,032 soles each, roughly £2 a day, for people to spend as they chose. A voluntary programme of community-led classes covered finance, conservation, and climate, and the project was drawn up with local women's groups. Almost 90 percent of participants adopted practices such as collective reforestation, restoring water sources, and burning less forest. Households that could not afford nutritious food fell from 73 percent to 26 percent. The share who left home to find work fell from 43 percent to 18 percent. Co-author Nick Langridge said communities with more security and autonomy are better able to protect the ecosystems they depend on.

The study covered a little over 500 hectares, about 1,235 acres. Researchers did not measure changes in vegetation or soil, and they did not account for other projects that might have changed what people did. The University of Bath also notes that there was no control group and that the period was short. Other studies of cash transfers have found that extra money can increase deforestation. The authors say wider research is needed. Cool Earth's hope of extending the idea to more communities in the Peruvian Amazon and in Colombia later in 2026 is a plan, not a result.