Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation with the help of the emerging REDD+ mechanism provides an opportunity to combine climate protection with biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. However, one of the crucial questions is how the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities will be protected in REDD+ implementation. This article depicts the challenges involved in protecting the rights of local communities in the case of Mozambique. The study finds that constraints regarding property and participation rights arise, in particular, from incomplete procedures of delimitation and titling, corruption, lack of rights awareness, lack of democratic structures within the community or poor infrastructure. Because many states with a REDD+ potential are not able to guarantee sufficient rights protection, the REDD+ mechanism itself needs to be endowed with strong safeguards for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.