A pioneering project to provide Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon with an unconditional basic income has contributed to the protection of the rainforest, according to a study.

The analysis from the University of Bath is expected to contribute to a growing debate about the role of direct payments to communities that maintain globally important ecosystems.

A two-year pilot managed by the UK-based charity Cool Earth gave 211 people in three communities in Peru’s Asháninka region six cash transfers of 1,032 Peruvian soles each – roughly equivalent to £2 a day – to spend as they wished.

Over the course of the trial, researchers found almost 90% of participants adopted environmentally beneficial practices, such as collective reforestation, restoration of critical water sources and reductions of forest burning.

They also noted a reduction in food insecurity, which can sometimes prompt forest people to start logging or become involved in environmental crimes.…