Indigenous Peoples
Peru’s Indigenous-led conservation: a model for protecting the Amazon
While vast stretches of Peru’s Amazon remain vulnerable to deforestation, illegal mining and land grabs, 821,000 hectares of Indigenous-managed forests stand as a testament to the power of community-led conservation. These territories, safeguarded by the Indigenous organisations FENAMAD and CARE with support from RFUK, are significantly better protected than surrounding areas where illegal activities often … Read more
Reseau EDH meets with DRC Presidential Advisor on environmental issues
On 22 March, RFUK’s civil society organisation partners Network for the Environment and Human Rights (Réseau EDH) met with Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Special Advisor to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Environment, Urbanism and Mobility, to discuss key environmental concerns. The meeting covered pressing issues such as the Kivu-Kinshasa Green … Read more
DRC announces creation of the world’s largest ‘community’ reserve: what needs to happen now
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has announced the creation of one of the world’s largest protected areas, covering more than 540,000 km² – an area the size of France. Stretching from Beni in the east of the country along the RN4 road and the Congo River basin to … Read more
Map story: Guardians of Boca Pariamanu
The Guardians of Boca Pariamanu map story beautifully encapsulates the journey of Indigenous women leaders in Peru’s Madre de Dios region as they navigate the threats to their ancestral lands and livelihoods. This engaging narrative, rich with photos, maps and an accompanying video, focuses on a community’s ongoing struggle to protect their environment while embracing … Read more
Guardians of Boca Pariamanu: RFUK’s new map story highlights Indigenous resilience in the face of adversity
We are excited to announce the publication of our latest map story, Guardians of Boca Pariamanu, which beautifully encapsulates the journey of Indigenous women leaders in Peru’s Madre de Dios region as they navigate the threats to their ancestral lands and livelihoods. This engaging narrative, rich with photos, maps and an accompanying video, focuses on … Read more
Bridging Forests and Markets Through Sustainable Cocoa Livelihoods in Peru
A groundbreaking collaboration with the award-winning Asháninka Kemito Ene cooperative in Peru is enabling Indigenous smallholders to use cutting-edge technology to break down barriers to accessing international markets for their sustainably produced cacao. As global deforestation continues to threaten biodiversity and climate stability, regulatory frameworks such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) have emerged to … Read more
Statement: serious concerns over restrictive measures on environmental civil society organisations in Cameroon
The Forestry Ministry in Cameroon has issued new rules for civil society that severely restrict the ability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to function independently. With this letter FERN, Global Witness, Greenpeace Africa, Milieudefensie and Rainforest Foundation UK call upon Cameroon’s international partners, including the Dutch government, to ensure the highly restrictive measures are repealed. … Read more
BRIEFING: SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
To find out more about RFUK’s Sustainable Conversation and Human Rights campaign, this briefing explains why conventional conservation models need to change, what needs to be done to effect this change and how RFUK and our local and Indigenous partners work on this issue.
New RFUK report highlights the continuing lack of protected area accountability in the Congo Basin
Following the latest round of negotiations over the future of biodiversity conservation efforts at COP16, a new report by RFUK urges for accountability and redress for the past and ongoing harms caused by fortress conservation programmes across the Congo Basin. ‘Righting Wrongs‘ highlights the pressing need for effective, independent and sufficiently-resourced Grievance and Redress Mechanisms, … Read more
Indigenous-led forest monitoring initiative leads to powerful action against illegal miners in Peru
A two-year Indigenous-led forest monitoring initiative in Peru’s Madre de Dios region has yielded remarkable results, leading to unprecedented legal action against illegal mining operations. This project confirms once again the power of combining community-led monitoring with state-of-the-art technologies to protect climate critical forests. Faced with many different challenges, including Peru’s political crisis and increased … Read more