Rainforest Foundation US

🆘🔥 In the first seven months of 2024, the Brazilian Amazon recorded the highest number of fires in the last 20 years. 🔥🆘

"We know that reducing deforestation and supporting Indigenous and local communities’ fire brigades is effective in both preventing and mitigating the impact of fires. However, with the Amazon in an extended drought and quickly approaching a tipping point, the scale of these fires presents a very new type of threat to the region," argues Cameron Ellis, Field Science Director of Rainforest Foundation US.

https://bit.ly/4fyiwul

Amazon On Fire: 2024 Sees Highest Number of Fires in 20 Years - Rainforest Foundation US In a troubling trend, the Amazon registered a 43.2% increase in fire hotspots during the same seven month period (January - July) from 2023 to 2024. According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The Amazon registered 20,221 fire hotspots through July 2024, the highest number fo...

"In 2021, scientists and journalists got together to train an artificial intelligence model on how to detect gold mines in the Amazon.
The endeavor was a success, but the picture they gained isn’t good. According to the methodology, the area occupied by gold mines across the entire Amazon doubled from 2018 to 2023, going from 2.4 million to 4.7 million acres."

Via Mongabay.com

https://bit.ly/46CsczV

Gold mining in the Amazon has doubled in area since 2018, AI tool shows Mines are widespread in the biome, affecting especially Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and Peru, following a sharp increase in the price of the metal, which nearly doubled since 2018.

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🌎 World Nature Conservation Day was celebrated yesterday.

While environmental is crucial to our collective survival, any form of conservation that does not respect the rights of Black, Indigenous, and local communities is simply perpetuating colonial practices.

It's time to decolonize conservation 👇

What is Green Colonialism?
❎ “Occupation, g3nocid3, cultural erasure, and the stealing and exploitation of land and water under the guise of environmentalism.” - Slow Factory

❎ Removing Indigenous peoples from their land to make way for conservation projects.

❎ Destroying the environment of Indigenous peoples and local communities—especially in the Global South—to extract minerals needed for the transition to clean energy.

❎Developing carbon offset projects on Indigenous lands without input from communities, and banning the use of traditional land practices.

To this day, the lives and voices of Black, Indigenous, and local communities are often overlooked and marginalized in the name of conservation.

✊ It's time to listen, respect, and prioritize their rights and knowledge in environmental protection efforts.
It’s time to Decolonize Conservation.

hashtag hashtag hashtag

🌳✅ Discover the impact of our work in 2023 👇🏽

Read our Annual Report to see how we're protecting rainforests in the Amazon and Central America, in partnership with Indigenous and local communities.

https://bit.ly/3LFDYjf

2023 Annual Report - Rainforest Foundation US In 2023 alone, we partnered with over 200 communities and helped protect 19.5 million acres of forests (an area nearly the size of South Carolina). This success is rooted in our unwavering commitment to collaborating closely with our Indigenous partners, prioritizing their needs, and championing the...

🌱🎥 In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos hosted the country's first floating film festival! 🎬

Organized by a diverse team of young filmmakers and activists, the Muyuna Festival showcased films from Peru, Brazil, Taiwan, Indonesia, and 15 other countries, highlighting stories of climate change and Indigenous land defenders.

We had the honor of supporting a multi-day Indigenous Cinema Workshop during the festival, focusing on Indigenous narratives and using film as a tool for territorial defense.

Discover more in our latest blog!

🌱🎥 In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the city of Iquitos hosted the country's first floating film festival.

Organized by a multicultural team of young filmmakers and activists, the Muyuna Festival showcased films from Peru, Brazil, Taiwan, Indonesia, and 15 other countries, each highlighting stories of climate change and the Indigenous land defenders on the frontlines of rainforest protection.

The festival also offered opportunities for hands-on learning, including a multi-day Indigenous Cinema Workshop supported by Rainforest Foundation US which focused on Indigenous narratives in cinema and how film can be used as a tool for territorial defense.

👇🌳In our latest blog, learn more about this unique event and the powerful role that film and cinema can play in both celebrating Indigenous identities and protecting rainforests.

➡ https://rainforestfoundation.org/cinema-on-the-river-a-floating-film-festival-in-the-heart-of-the-peruvian-amazon/?segmentCode=FB00

🌳👉🏽 Good news for the Amazon rainforest: Colombia reduced deforestation rates by 36% in 2023.

"The drop happened between 2022 and 2023 and comes off the back of years of campaigning by Indigenous activists who depend on the Amazon for their homes and livelihood.

When elected in 2022, President Gustavo Petro vowed to halt record-high rates of deforestation in the Amazon by limiting agribusiness expansion into the forest and creating reserves where Indigenous communities and others are allowed to harvest rubber, acai, and other non-timber forest products."

Via Euronews English



https://bit.ly/3YobHFN

Good news for the Amazon as Colombia cuts deforestation by 36% President Gustavo Petro is coming good on his election promise to cut tree felling.

🆘Illegal Trafficking and Deforestation Threaten Wildlife and Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon.

We’re joining forces with our partners to address these critical challenges. Last week, Indigenous organizations from Peru— and ORAU Oficial—and Rainforest Foundation US hosted the TechCamp: Wildlife Collaboration Network, bringing together 55 participants from different Amazonian countries.

The main goal of this event was to foster collaboration between technology providers, civil society, rescue centers, and Indigenous organizations to develop initiatives that strengthen the wildlife protection chain in the Amazon. Indigenous leaders highlighted the grave threats to wild animals, including trafficking, agricultural expansion, deforestation, coca leaf cultivation, and conflicts between predator animals and forest communities.

Participants explored various strategies and shared successful experiences in wildlife protection and conservation. Key topics included human-animal conflict mitigation, endangered species protection, environmental education, and sustainable resource management.

This collaborative effort was made possible thanks to the financial support from the US Embassy in Peru (Embajada de Estados Unidos en Perú) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).

"Our story begins before 1500."

🚨Today, July 10, the Brazilian Senate will vote on Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC48), intending to replace Indigenous peoples' ancestral rights to their lands with the controversial "Marco Temporal" framework. The National Congress has overturned the Supreme Court's decision deeming the Marco Temporal unconstitutional. Despite President Lula's vetoes, Law 14.701/2023 is now in force. In collaboration with the agribusiness lobby, the Senate is rushing to embed the Marco Temporal into the Federal Constitution.

In September 2023, Brazil’s Supreme Court reached a majority decision rejecting the Marco Temporal, a harmful legal argument imposing a “Time Limit” on Indigenous land rights. This thesis, supported by agribusiness-linked lawmakers, claims Indigenous peoples are entitled only to lands they occupied at the signing of the 1988 Constitution, ignoring decades of forced displacement during Brazil’s dictatorship.

The Articulation of ’s Indigenous Peoples is calling for collective action for a tweet storm this afternoon. Join us in opposing this radical constitutional change that would strip many Indigenous peoples of their ancestral land rights. Raise your voice and stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities to protect their ancestral lands. You can find content ready to copy and post to Twitter here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XIOLvow_gbjnVo1ijEspIPTQQWxpSa_8x5CkcQ7VUco/edit?gid=1968492662 =1968492662

📷Image Credit: Sofia Lisboa /Midia Ninja

📩🌳Interested in receiving updates from Rainforest Foundation US? Sign up for our email series!
You will receive messages alerting you about our recent work and victories, as well as stories from our Indigenous partners, and opportunities to get involved.

Sign up here to get involved👇

Subscribe - Rainforest Foundation US Interested in receiving updates from Rainforest Foundation US? Subscribe to our email series. You’ll receive occasional messages alerting you about our recent work and victories, as well as stories from our indigenous partners, and opportunities to get involved. Together, we can champion indigenou...

Check out this fascinating article on Brazil nut production in the northern Amazon. We’re thrilled to see the Wai Wai people receiving media coverage for their innovative economic initiative.

We proudly support the Wai Wai people through territorial monitoring and institutional strengthening. We facilitate workshops, offer financial and administrative guidance, and assist in project proposal creation and implementation.

In a region plagued by gold mining and illegal logging, it’s inspiring to see community groups, like the Wai Wai Association of Brazil Nut Producers, succeed in uniting forest protection with local economies, securing their livelihoods today and ensuring healthy forests for future generations.

Indigenous Wai Wai Seek Markets for Brazil Nuts Without Middlemen Brazilian nuts are embedded in the culture of the Wai Wai people, who live across the forested interiors of northern Brazil and neighboring Guyana. Today, Brazil nuts account for the main cash income...

It’s ! Did you know...

🐸 Half of the world’s biodiversity can be found in rainforests
🌳 Rainforests absorb and store up to 30% of global carbon emissions
🌍 Scientists agree that protecting rainforests is critical to ensuring a
climate-stable future
🪵 Only 36% of our planet’s original rainforests remain intact

Today and everyday, we celebrate these critical ecosystems and their guardians. We can all do more . Join us.

✊ 👏 A landmark victory for Land Rights and our planet:
20 Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon secured legal rights to an area three times the size of Manhattan.

This remarkable achievement is the result of an innovative strategy to land titling coordinated by Aidesep Pueblos Indígenas, Rainforest Foundation US, and the regional government. This flexible, Indigenous-led, grassroots approach uses maps and satellite technology, and facilitates regional cooperation among neighboring Indigenous groups.

Visit our website to read the full story 👇https://rainforestfoundation.org/a-landmark-victory-20-indigenous-communities-in-peruvian-amazon-secure-land-titles/?segmentCode=FB00

A Landmark Victory: 20 Indigenous Communities in Peruvian Amazon Secure Land Titles - Rainforest Foundation US Land titles are the most effective way to reduce deforestation in Indigenous peoples’ territory, resulting in a 66% reduction in forest cover loss. Rainforest Foundation US celebrates a major victory as 20 Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon received land titles. Indigenous partner organ...

"Gone are the days of relying solely on physical patrols and the unaided eye; now, satellite imagery and near real-time data paint a territory-wide picture.

Indigenous leaders in Peru are working collaboratively to develop new resources using , a tool that is helping them to control the data and narrative around deforestation in their territories and the threats they face to better work together, target solutions, and guard and defend their territories against latent threats to ancestral forests.

With support from Rainforest Foundation US since 2016, and organizations like Organización Regional de Regional de AIDESEP-Ucayali (ORAU), Indigenous communities in Peru's Ucayali and Loreto regions have moved beyond traditional methods of territory monitoring, developing the technical capacity to collect and manage satellite data and analyses themselves.

Read more in a new GFW blog, co-authored with ORAU Oficial: https://gfw.global/4e2GOvH

Gone are the days of relying solely on physical patrols and the unaided eye; now, satellite imagery and near real-time data paint a territory-wide picture.

Indigenous leaders in Peru are working collaboratively to develop new resources using , a tool that is helping them to control the data and narrative around deforestation in their territories and the threats they face to better work together, target solutions, and guard and defend their territories against latent threats to ancestral forests.

With support from Rainforest Foundation US since 2016, and organizations like Organización Regional de Regional de AIDESEP-Ucayali (ORAU), Indigenous communities in Peru's Ucayali and Loreto regions have moved beyond traditional methods of territory monitoring, developing the technical capacity to collect and manage satellite data and analyses themselves.

Read more in a new GFW blog, co-authored with ORAU: https://gfw.global/4e2GOvH

We are on ! 🌟 Find out more about our featured project, we count on your support! 🤝

Direct link to our project here 👇
https://wingtap.app.link/XCEpMMAY9Jb

After nearly 20 years of relentless advocacy, the Peruvian government has established the Sierra del Divisor Occidental Indigenous Reserve in the Loreto and Ucayali regions.

This reserve is part of the vast Yavari-Tapiche rainforest, spanning almost 40 million acres across the Peru-Brazil border. These forests are home to the world's largest population of Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation.

A huge congratulations to our partners Aidesep Pueblos Indígenas, OrpioAidesep, ORAU Oficial, and Rainforest Foundation Norway RDC, who have fought tirelessly for the protection of these forests and the rights of Indigenous peoples to live in isolation 🌍✊



https://bit.ly/45bmTXG

Major victory for the defence of Indigenous people in isolation in Peru After 19 years of intense work, 5150 km2 of pristine tropical rainforest and several groups of Indigenous people in isolation are now officially protected.

The Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB - Alianza Mesoamericana de Pueblos y Bosques) has issued a pivotal declaration calling for fair and transparent carbon markets and + processes that honor the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. The declaration states:

"In the face of the Climate Crisis and its serious global consequences, governments and private enterprises have pushed forward 'Nature-based Solutions' which include carbon markets and REDD+ initiatives. However, the construction of these mechanisms did not consider, from their design, the vision
of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other collectives, protected by rights. Today, these mechanisms raise serious doubts regarding the accuracy of their accounting, real impacts, and respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities"

Click to learn more and read the full declaration ⬇️

https://bit.ly/3ywdrBF

Mesoamerican Community Leaders Point the Way Toward a High-Integrity Carbon Market - Rainforest Foundation US Protecting rainforests in partnership with indigenous peoples since 1989.

🌳 In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the city of Iquitos hosted the country's first-ever floating film festival, Muyuna

is the largest city in the world accessible only by river or plane. There is no road access. Waterways are not just vital for transportation but are also deeply woven into the culture and daily life.

The Festival celebrated this connection by creating a floating platform on the river for local residents to enjoy diverse films highlighting the struggles and dreams of forest peoples like themselves from around the 🌎. The festival featured films from Thailand, Brazil, Taiwan, Panama, and other countries with tropical forests, as well as work by young Peruvians.

✊🍃Spaces like Muyuna give us hope that the stories of Indigenous peoples at the frontlines of environmental destruction will be known. We are incredibly proud to have supported this collective movement, fostering awareness and solidarity through the power of storytelling.

✊️ 🌳

On Tuesday, May 21, 24 Indigenous communities in the Amazonian region of Loreto, Peru received legal titles to their lands ✊️

The struggle for territorial rights is a cornerstone of Indigenous movements worldwide, but obtaining legal recognition of their lands can be a long and arduous battle. These new titles are the result of an innovative approach to land titling pioneered by Aidesep Pueblos Indígenas and Rainforest Foundation US, in collaboration with the regional government of Loreto. Through this new methodology, Indigenous peoples are using technology to map their own territories and present collective land claims, which has expedited the process and consolidated larger territories.

🍃 The president of AIDESEP, Apu Jorge Pérez, noted that despite having their titles, many communities continue to face significant threats and pressures.

🌎Indigenous peoples account for just over 6% of the global population, yet their ancestral lands coincide with areas that hold 80% of Earth's remaining biodiversity.

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity and your screens are probably filled with images of nature and cute animals. But what is nature? Aren't we humans also part of this diversity?

✊ Let's honor Indigenous peoples today, who remind us that we ARE nature.

"In Latin America today, nearly half of all Indigenous peoples have migrated to urban areas due to land degradation, territorial dispossession, climate change, and conflict."

Via Al Jazeera English

https://bit.ly/4dIDeqB

‘Nothing left’: How climate change pushes Indigenous people from their land In Peru, a community of Ashaninka people starts the process of leaving their homeland as Amazon forests disappear.

🌳 Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazonian Indigenous lands decreased by 42%, reaching a six-year low.

"To sustain the current decline in deforestation and ensure the ongoing protection of Indigenous peoples, it is imperative for the Brazilian government to expedite the titling of lands and the expulsion of invaders from Indigenous territories. These lands are crucial buffers against deforestation, making their protection a top priority." - Christine Halvorson, Program Director at Rainforest Foundation US.

Click to read the full article 👇🏽

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazonian Indigenous lands decreased by 42%, reaching a six-year low - Rainforest Foundation US Indigenous peoples’ lands in the Amazon experienced a 42% decrease in deforestation between August 2023 and March 2024, according to a report by the Brazilian organization Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon). This is the lowest amount of destruction recorded within these territ...

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has decreased sharply since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reclaimed the presidency last January.

Deforestation alerts, detected by the country’s space agency INPE, have fallen to the lowest level in nearly five years.

Via Mongabay.com

https://bit.ly/4dhLMoe

Deforestation alerts in the Brazilian Amazon fall to a 5-year low Forest clearing detected by Brazil’s deforestation alert system fell to the lowest level in nearly five years, according to data released last week by the country’s space agency, INPE. INPE’s satellite-based tracking system recorded deforestation of 162 square kilometers in March, bringing the...

"Gathered in NYC in mid-April, 87 Indigenous leaders from 35 countries met to hammer out a set of demands to address a common scourge: the green energy transition that has our peoples under siege.

Worldwide, we are experiencing land-grabs and a rising tide of criminalization and attacks for speaking out against mining and renewable energy projects that violate our rights with impacts that are being documented by the UN and other experts."

- Rukka Sombolinggi, Torajan Indigenous woman from Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the first female Secretary General of AMAN, the world’s largest Indigenous peoples organization.

Global Alliance of Territorial Communities

https://bit.ly/3QlKleB

Indigenous lands feel cruel bite of green energy transition Few mining companies chose a path to sustainability in the green energy transition. Indigenous need to be able to make their demands heard.