News
RFUK publishes new guidelines for Indigenous Peoples and local communities faced with carbon market projects
Amid a surge in demand for forest land in the Congo Basin for carbon offset projects, RFUK has launched a new set of guidelines to help impacted local communities to better understand these projects and how to exercise their rights in relation to them. Carbon offset projects are often marketed as a win-win solution to … Read more
Making the case for community-led forest protection at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting
Last week in Kinshasa, APEM, CAD and other RFUK partners participated in the 20th meeting of the parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, the foremost gathering of actors concerned with the protection and management of the world’s second largest rainforest. The event, which brought together more than 500 delegates from governments, international organisations, research institutions, … Read more
Savouring the Success of Small Cocoa Producers in Peru
During a recent visit to the fifth edition of the Biodiversity Fair organised by the Peruvian Ministry of Environment, Rainforest Foundation UK’s Peru Coordinator, Daniela Velit, had the opportunity to catch up in Lima with Felixto Cabanillas, the president of our partner, Kemito Ene, an Indigenous cooperative that represents hundreds of Asháninka cocoa producers in Peru. … Read more
New report sets out non-market alternatives to flawed forest carbon markets
We are delighted to share ‘Beyond Offsets: People and Planet-Centred Responses to the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis’, a new report by Fern, Forest Peoples Programme and Rainforest Foundation UK that sets out alternatives to flawed voluntary carbon markets. Authored by David Young and extensively peer-reviewed by environmental and Indigenous experts, the report explores non-market approaches (NMAs) … Read more
Map story: climate impacts and community resilience along the Congo River
RFUK is pleased to announce the release of our latest immersive interactive map story titled ‘A Journey Up the Congo River‘. This powerful digital storytelling experience follows RFUK Executive Director, Joe Eisen, and Forest Campaigner, Vittoria Moretti, as they travel along the mighty Congo River, witnessing firsthand the severe climate change impacts affecting riverine communities … Read more
MASS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN EQUATEUR PROVINCE, DRC
Mbandaka, DRC Rainforest Foundation UK and APEM strongly condemn the systematic and grave human rights violations reportedly committed by agents of the police and against members of the Indigenous Pygmy People community in the community forestry concession (CFCL) of Lokolama, in the Bikoro Territory, Equateur Province. During a documentation mission conducted by RFUK and APEM, … Read more
UNVEILING OUR 2023 ANNUAL REVIEW: A YEAR OF GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT
We are pleased to publish our 2023 Annual Review. In this latest edition, we reflect on RFUK’s 35 years of promoting a simple yet powerful idea – that we need to entrust the protection of tropical forests to the Indigenous and local communities who depend on them. This year’s review highlights our three-pillar approach to … Read more
Promoting Sustainable Community Forest Enterprises in Équateur Province, DRC
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of a briefing summarising our approach to establishing collective forest enterprises in Équateur Province, DRC. Published with support from Partnerships for Forests, USAID and NICFI, ‘Guidelines for Establishing Collective Forest Enterprises: The Case of Équateur Province in DRC‘ is a comprehensive guide outlining key strategies for promoting sustainable, community-led … Read more
We need rapid response support for Indigenous peoples in the face of growing extreme weather events
Drought in Bangladesh. Image by Muhammad Amdad Hossain via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). This post is a commentary by RFUK Executive Director Joe Eisen that originally appeared in Mongabay on 27 March 2024. In recent weeks, Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) has seen Indigenous peoples and local communities we work with in the Peruvian Amazon and … Read more
Community Forests in Action series: Bountiful harvest in Ilinga, Lukolela
SUCCESS STORY Ilinga village, Lukolela territory in DRC’s Equateur province, secured their customary land by establishing a Community Forest in 2018 and becoming the first community in the country to develop an inclusive and sustainable ‘simple management plan’ for their forest the following year. Based on this plan, community members are working on ways of … Read more