Indigenous Land and Livelihoods
AIDESEP
AIDESEP (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana) represents the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, working for the defense and respect of their collective rights. AIDESEP works to expose indigenous people’s struggles and present alternative development proposals according to their worldview and culture. News Putting land-use planning into action: community monitoring with the … Read more
Asociación de Productores Kemito ‒ Ene (Peru), New Economy, Equator Prize 2019 Spotlight
In an area where forests are threatened by illegal logging, large infrastructure projects, and oil exploitation, Kemito Ene tells a story of indigenous entrepreneurship that sustains families and forests. This successful indigenous social business enterprise is a model for sustainable commodity supply chains worldwide. Kemito Ene advocates for the well-being of its producers based on … Read more
Making Community Forestry Successful in DRC: Anthropological Perspectives on Community-based Forest Management
In 2014, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) adopted ground-breaking legislation that enables forest communities to obtain “local community forest concessions” (CFCLs) of up to 50,000 hectares of their customarily owned lands, in perpetuity….
Making Community Forests Work for Local and Indigenous Communities in the Central African Republic
As the Central African Republic (CAR) is entering a decisive phase that could lead to the allocation of the country’s first ‘pilot’ community forests, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and CAR civil society groups are supporting local communities in their application processes.
From war to sustainable chocolate: Indigenous Amazonian cocoa producers awarded prestigious United Nations ‘Equator Prize’
A cooperative of indigenous cocoa producers based in a remote part of the Peruvian rainforest has won the biennial UN Development Programme’s Equator Prize in recognition of its “outstanding community effort to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.” Kemito Ene (“cocoa from the Ene River”) was formed in 2010, with support from the Rainforest … Read more
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
Asháninka cocoa growers sign landmark agreement
With support from the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK), Kemito Ene, the cooperative representing hundreds of Asháninka cocoa producers in Peru, has just signed an agreement to export 90 tonnes of certified organic cocoa for the international market. The agreement has been made possible in part thanks to a growing relationship with organic chocolate maker Loving … Read more
Amazonian Leader Receives Indigenous Award for Rights Advocacy
Amazonian leader receives indigenous award for rights advocacy Indigenous leader and Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) partner Ruth Buendía has been awarded the Bartolomé de las Casas prize for her commitment to standing up for the human and environmental rights of the Asháninka people in the Peruvian Amazon. The jury, acting for the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s … Read more
More awards for RFUK’s Peruvian partner Ruth Buendía
Ruth, who was also honoured with the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize earlier this year, was awarded with a Diploma of Honour of the Republic at a special ceremony in September, chaired by the President of the Peruvian Congress, Ana María Solórzano, who recalled the moments in which the Asháninka suffered terrible violence at the hands … Read more