A new report has determined that setting up legal rights for forest-dwelling peoples costs little, and can make a big difference to efforts aimed at reducing deforestation.

Supporting the rights of the world’s forest-dwelling peoples has long been seen as an essential part of reducing deforestation. Yet policymakers have been unwilling to take on the economic and political costs of enforcing these rights.

According to a report in Nature News, fresh research has now shown that the monetary costs, at least, are meagre compared with the overall price tag of the United Nations'' proposed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme.

The study was launched today at the Rights, Forests and Climate Change conference in Oslo, Norway.

It estimates that just 3.35 dollars per hectare could implement legal and regulatory frameworks ensuring land ownership and habitation rights for forest communities.

The estimate includes the direct costs associated with demarcating territory, registering land, raising awareness and resolving local disputes.

By comparison, the estimated costs of setting up and implementing the REDD programme could be up to 3,500 dollars per hectare each year for the next 22 years.

"The idea of the study is to put things in perspective," said Jeffrey Hatcher, the report’s author and an analyst at the Rights and Resources Initiative, a coalition of conservation groups.

"There is strong evidence that local people are good at forestry management. So even if REDD does not come about, if you at least recognize people’s rights you will get a good outcome and reduced emissions," he added.