Rainforest Foundation US protects rainforests in partnership with indigenous peoples since 1988

Rights

GATC Day 3

Rainforest Foundation US supports Indigenous peoples at the frontlines of forest protection to secure and assert their rights at local, national, and international levels and foster networks, alliances, and platforms that strengthen their voices.

Lands

The circular communal building of the Watoriki Yanomami community in the middle of the Amazon rainforest in Roraima, Brazil

We partner with Indigenous communities to obtain legal rights to customary lands and to protect them from deforestation through technical training, legal and negotiation support, and advocacy.

Leadership

Indigenous rights' activists from the GATC marched through New York City's financial district as part of Climate Week NYC.

We work with Indigenous peoples’ organizations, NGOs and leaders to build the institutions, governance structures and technical skills to advance their policy and development objectives.

Stories

Uniting for Wildlife: Highlights from a ‘TechCamp’ Workshop in the Peruvian Amazon 

The city of Iquitos, Peru, hosted an event dedicated to the protection of Amazonian wildlife. Organized by Rainforest Foundation US, the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the East (ORPIO), and the Regional Organization AIDESEP Ucayali (ORAU), and with financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Peru and the World Resources Institute (WRI), the event brought together a diverse group of 55 participants.

RFUS in the Press

Voices of Global Forest Watch: Wendy Pineda, RFUS Peru’s General Program Manager

Indigenous peoples are, without question, the most effective stewards of our forests. Now, imagine the transformative power when they have access to advanced tools that amplify their efforts to safeguard their lands.
Check out this interview with Wendy Pineda Ortiz, General Project Manager of our Peru program, to learn how Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon are leveraging cutting-edge monitoring technology to fight deforestation.

Stories

The Ancestral Forest: How Indigenous Peoples Transformed the Amazon into a Vast Garden

For centuries, many people in the Western world believed the Amazon to be an unpopulated and untouched forest. This has never been entirely true. The Amazon has been managed by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, explore how—through the creation of fertile soils and selecting and cultivating various plant and tree species over millennia—Indigenous peoples have transformed the Amazon rainforest into the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth.

Take Action Against Climate Change

Rainforests absorb and store more carbon dioxide than all other types of forests, making rainforest protection one of the most effective solutions to climate change. Support Indigenous peoples on the frontlines of rainforest protection.

Hover over the amounts to see what your donation can achieve:

Sign up today!

Get updates on our recent work and victories, stories from our Indigenous partners, and learn how you can get involved.

Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala
gro.y1725762315nffr@1725762315sreve1725762315dd1725762315

Didier has been coordinating the USAID-funded B’atz project since joining Rainforest Foundation US in April 2022. He holds a Master’s in Applied Anthropology and a Bachelor’s in Geography. Before joining the organization, Didier worked for 12 years in Central and South America on issues of transparency, legality, governance, and managing stakeholders’ processes in the environmental sector. Prior to that he worked on similar issues in Central Africa. He speaks French, Spanish, and English, and is based in Guatemala.