The aim of this research is to explore how the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) programme is reshaping the politics and economics (or ‘political ecologies’) of forest management in Indonesia. REDD+ seeks to prevent the release of carbon stored in forests by allowing polluters and consumers in countries like New Zealand to offset carbon emissions by financing forest protection programmes in less developed countries. While desirable from a global climate perspective, concerns have been raised about the introduction of private sector actors and commercial imperatives to forest protection. In this project we trace how these new financial incentives for forest protection are influencing strategies of forest governance; redirecting flows of economic benefits derived from forests; and enabling and constraining the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. In analysing the political ecology of REDD+ in Indonesia this project will advance understandings regarding the power of global environmental governance and how it is influencing human-nature relationships at multiple scales. Such knowledge is vital not only to achieving global climate goals, but also to ensuring that progress towards such goals results in equitable and empowering forms of development.