ForestLink
Experts look to the next frontier of community-led forest monitoring in Africa
At a time when illegal logging runs rampant, the climate is rapidly changing and environment and human rights defenders face increasing threats and attacks, empowering forest communities to speak up to protect their lands and rights is more urgent than ever. This was the central conclusion of the virtual workshop ‘The role of ForestLink and community-based … Read more
Civic Response’s Radio Campaign Raises Awareness of ForestLink and Community-led Forest Protection in Ghana
Guest blog by Jemima Opare-Henaku, Communication, Civic Response RFUK’s Ghanaian partner Civic Response has just completed a two-month radio sensitization campaign across the country on community based Real Time Monitoring (RTM) and raising forest fringe communities’ awareness about the role they can play in forest management and monitoring. Although some progress has been made on … Read more
Forestlink: Unlocking the potential of forest guardians and environmental defenders in tackling illegal logging in DRC
With support from the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) has been successfully developing and testing a ground-breaking new end-to-end system that is unlocking the potential of traditional forest guardians in monitoring and protecting their forests. ForestLink enables communities anywhere in the world to capture and transmit highly accurate reports … Read more
Female perspectives on forest monitoring in Cameroon, DR Congo and Ghana
Two users of RFUK’s real-time forest monitoring technology, ForestLink, in DRC. Credit: GASHE Women have an important role to play in protecting and managing their local rainforests. Whether used for food, medicines or firewood, women in the Congo Basin depend greatly on rainforests for their livelihoods. They have a huge stake in protecting their local … Read more
RFUK’s Real-time Monitoring project expands to new communities in Africa
RFUK’s ForestLink system is active in three countries in Africa and will soon expand to four. From left to right: Ghana, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo. Upwards of 100 communities across Africa will benefit from the Rainforest Foundation UK’s Real-time Monitoring (RTM) project, thanks to new support from the UK Department for … Read more
Real-time Forest Monitoring: Empowering Communities, Preventing Illegalities, Protecting Forests
Since its creation, ForestLink has been successfully deployed as part of RFUK’s Real-Time Forest Monitoring (RTM) initiative in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana and Peru. By engaging forest and indigenous peoples in the fight against illegal logging and deforestation, RTM seeks to strengthen local involvement in forest management.
ForestLink app helps catch illegal miners red-handed in Peru
Environmental police seized an estimated £1 million of illegal mining equipment during a raid near Barranco Chico, in Madre de Dios | Photo credit: FENAMAD Over the last two months, dozens of suspected illegal gold miners causing terrible environmental damage in the Peruvian Amazon were caught with the help of the ForestLink smartphone app developed by the Rainforest … Read more
Real-time technology helps stop illegal mining operation in the Peruvian Amazon
A map of the affected area in Madre de Dios region. An indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon helped to catch illegal gold miners red-handed this month using a smartphone app developed by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK), leading to the dramatic destruction of illegal mining equipment. The Masenawa community in Peru’s Madre de Dios … Read more
FORESTLINK: The Future of Rainforest Protection
This short film documents the early stages of the Rainforest Foundation UK’s real-time forest monitoring project in Central Africa and the Peruvian Amazon. RFUK works in the world’s two largest rainforests: the Congo Basin and the Amazon. Spread over billions of acres, these forests are under threat from illegal activities like logging and mining. These … Read more
Community-based Real-time Monitoring in the Congo Basin and Amazon rainforests
In 2015, Rainforest Foundation UK, in collaboration with Forêts et Développement Rural (FODER), successfully developed and tested a ground-breaking new system, ForestLink, a tool to enable communities anywhere in the world to capture and transmit accurately geo-referenced reports of forest illegalities to authorities and other stakeholders in real-time – even in areas where there is … Read more