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Implementing a rights-based approach to rainforest protection since 1989.

trees

With secure rights to land and livelihoods, forest peoples can be effective guardians of their natural resources.

Men walking through river C symbol

Partnering with indigenous peoples
at the frontlines of rainforest protection.

Sting reunites with Raoni, twenty years later

Submitted by adminRFF on February 4, 2010 - 1:07pm

Twenty years ago, Sting went into the Xingu region of Brazil for the first time. He observed the deforestation of the Amazon first-hand, seeing vast stretches of barren land that had once been forest.He had the intuition then that the forest was important, and that those who lived there would best protect it.Today, scientists are recognizing that intuition as true, especially in the context of global warming.Twenty years ago, Sting took Raoni, a Kayapo leader in the Xingu, on stage with him to give him a platform from which to speak and an audience to listen.Today, he is doing the same thing.

News Stories

Brazil licenses dam on the Xingu River

Submitted by adminRFF on February 5, 2010 - 1:13pm

Twenty years ago, indigenous peoples and their allies rallied against the construction of dams that would have flooded their lands and ruined their livelihoods. They were successful in halting construction of the dam, and today the region remains part of one of the largest mosaics of protected tropical forests in the world.

On Monday, February 1, however, Brazil’s environmental agency issued a provisional license for a new dam, Belo Monte, which though less damaging than the original plans, will still cause extensive environmental and social impacts. Belo Monte would be the world’s third-largest dam, and would serve primarily to furnish energy for industries in the region. A panel of independent experts has found that the dam would affect the land and livelihoods of nearly 40,000 people in the Xingu basin, including 10,000 indigenous people from 18 ethnic groups.

Events

May 13 2010
The Rainforest Fund's 21st Birthday Celebration Benefit Concert
Carnegie Hall
April 19 2010
Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
UN Headquarters, New York