News
RFUK partner awarded ‘French Republic’s Human Rights Prize’
Congolese Human Rights Observatory (Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l’Homme), OCDH, one of RFUK’s local partners based in the Republic of Congo, has been awarded the 2015 French Republic’s Human Rights Prize. The organisation’s executive director, Trésor Nzila Kendet, who accepted the award at a ceremony held today (Friday) in Paris, said it was well-deserved and … Read more
Sting and celebrity friends lend a hand in charity Christmas auction
RFUKs ’12 Days of Christmas’ eBay auction will run from 12th – 23rd November and features celebrity-crafted Christmas cards, limited-edition artworks and luxury experiences – all proceeds going directly to projects which help to protect the future of the rainforests and the rights of indigenous and forest people. The online auction features limited-edition pieces from … Read more
ForestLink – putting the power to save forests in local peoples’ hands
An audience at The Royal Institution (RI) in London on Wednesday heard how millions of ‘community forest monitors’ could be mobilised by a new system devised by RFUK that enables them to report illegal logging in real-time. The meeting heard from Georges-Thierry Handja, RFUK’s mapping coordinator,that the system had already been successfully tested in Cameroon and would … Read more
Announcing our BBC Radio 4 Appeal Presenter – Charlie Hamilton James!
We are delighted to announce that photojournalist Charlie Hamilton James is our BBC Radio 4 presenter this year! The recording took place at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London yesterday and will first air on July 19. Watch this space for news and updates on the appeal…! Share this: Share on Email Email Share on … Read more
Indigenous peoples convene on how new technologies can help respond to new threats in tropical forests
Indigenous representatives from around the world convened last week in New York to share experiences of community mapping and how emerging technologies could help scale up efforts to document forest peoples’ occupation and use of rainforests in the face of increasing threats. The event, Indigenous Mapping – Protecting Rights in a Changing World, was hosted … Read more
Remote rainforest communities can report illegal logging on their lands in ‘real-time’ thanks to ground-breaking technology
Today, we are launching a technologically innovative system that gives forest peoples the opportunity to send near-instantaneous, highly geographically accurate reports of illegal felling of trees, such as by timber or palm oil companies, from anywhere in the world, even where there is no mobile, phone or internet connectivity. Information on illegal activity in the … Read more
RFUK trains mappers in Cameroon amid renewed threat to rainforest
RFUK’s mapping coordinator Georges Thierry Handja was in Cameroon last month to continue our support for communities facing threats to their lands. Over just 12 days, RFUK trained teams of people from three regions to support forest communities to produce maps of their land, much of which is considered to be under customary ownership (though this … Read more
Cutting Edge Software and Mapping Techniques Help Prove Traditional ‘Ownership’ of Congo Basin Rainforest ‘Wildernesses’
KINSHASA: We have just published some new mapping data that reveals what has previously been thought of as rainforest ‘wilderness’ is in fact occupied and ‘traditionally owned’ by thousands of African villagers. The data from these ‘wildernesses’, which in fact, relates to 32 villages with a combined population of some 56,000 people and covering 209,000 hectares, exposed … Read more
How Accountants Play a Key Role in Protecting DRC’s Rainforests
KINSHASA: Accountants and financial managers, project managers and directors from our partner organisations in DRC, combined their know-how last week as part of our long-term capacity-building work in the region. As part of the Mapping and Forest Governance programme, we have been working with civil society organisations, CADEM, GASHE and RRN in DRC, on this since January 2013. Broadly, this programme is designed to contribute to poverty reduction, … Read more
Congo Basin NGOs call for urgent action on palm oil expansion
Environmental and human rights organisations from across the Congo Basin have called for urgent action to prevent forest destruction and violations of rights due to the expansion of industrial palm oil plantations in the region. A meeting in Douala in December, hosted by the Environmental Investigation Agency, heard how more than 70 groups are mobilising … Read more