News
International Day of Forests 2022
As organisations and governments across the world celebrate the #InternationalDayofForests, we must look at what needs to be done if the COP26 pledges to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 are to be achieved. First, leaders need to act on the increasing evidence of the vital role of indigenous peoples and other local communities in protecting … Read more
NGOs respond to the proposed weakening of the Post-2020 GBF
RFUK and a group of environmental NGOs have written a letter to the Working Group of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, stating their deep concern over the planned weakening of the standards and principles of the Framework. Under a stated intention of making the proposal clear and concise, all “cross-cutting issues” will be removed from … Read more
New U.S. legislative bill could pave the way for greater protection of human rights in international biodiversity conservation
In a significant development, the chair and ranking minority member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources has introduced a bill that aims to ensure that U.S. international biodiversity funding is not used to contribute to human rights abuses in and around protected areas. This comes off the back of a U.S. … Read more
Massaha’s fight to protect their ancestral forests in Gabon
RFUK, Forest Peoples Programme and Greenpeace Africa have today written to the Gabonese Minister of Water, Forests, Oceans, Environment, Climate Change and Land-use Planning, Lee White, to call for an immediate halt to illegal logging in the village of Massaha’s ancestral forests, and to support its claim to establish a community-managed protected area. The community’s … Read more
Just launched: FORESTLINK.ORG
RFUK’s Real-Time Monitoring project has created a new, dedicated digital hub for their ForestLink technology, with all the latest developments, resources and stories on how communities are protecting their forests with this innovative system. On the new site, you’ll find out how the tech system works, why it uniquely supports grassroots independent forest monitoring, the different ways it’s being deployed across … Read more
A Post-COP Conversation
After a frenetic two weeks for RFUK and our local partners at the climate talks in Glasgow, we reflect on some of the gains, the losses, and the next steps in striving to put tropical forests and their traditional guardians at the heart of the international climate agenda. A declaration by 137 countries promising to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 … Read more
100,000 citizens and scientists unite against a lifting of the DRC logging moratorium
On the eve of the crucial climate summit in Glasgow, more than 100,000 Congolese and international citizens have signed a petition organised by Rainforest Rescue, Greenpeace Africa and the Rainforest Foundation UK calling on the DRC government and its international partners to maintain the national moratorium on new logging concessions. RFUK and our local and … Read more
Community Forestry in DRC is a solution to tackle both poverty and climate change: that’s why it needs to be in focus at COP26
On 14 October at the 8th annual Multi-actor Roundtable on Community Forestry in Kinshasa, the Congolese government, as well as representatives from donor countries, community leaders and a large contingent of national and international civil society organisations, affirmed that local forest communities and indigenous peoples should be at the centre of climate action. As expressed by Mr. Athanasse Lingodja, a community leader from the province of Maniema, … Read more
New RFUK report reveals the growing extent, and impact, of transport and energy infrastructure development in the Congo Basin
A new study by RFUK has found that infrastructure development is causing huge destruction in world’s second largest rainforest – and international climate programmes are ignoring it. While REDD+ programmes in the Congo Basin have invariably targeted subsistence farming as the main driver of deforestation, they have almost completely overlooked the role of infrastructure development – … Read more
Press Release: Open Letter on NbS to the COP26 Presidency
NATURE-BASED ’DISTRACTIONS’: IS THE UK ABOUT TO POUR BILLIONS INTO AN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY BACKED GREENWASH SCHEME? With just weeks to go before COP26 in Glasgow, a group of leading environmental and human rights NGOs have written to the UK Presidency of the crucial climate talks warning that one of its flagship policies, so-called ’nature-based solutions’ to climate change, risks greenwashing some of the biggest … Read more