Historical image from the late 1980's of Sting shaking hands with Chief Raoni of the Kayapo people of Brazil

Mission & History

Mission

The mission of the Rainforest Foundation is to support indigenous and traditional peoples of the world’s rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights by assisting them in:

  • Securing and controlling the natural resources necessary for their long term well being and managing these resources in ways which do not harm their environment, violate their culture or compromise their future; and​
  • Developing the means to protect their individual and collective rights and to obtain, shape and control basic services from the state.

History

Historical image from the late 1980's of Sting shaking hands with Chief Raoni of the Kayapo people of Brazil
Rainforest Foundation founder Sting with Raoni Metuktire, Chief of the Megranoti-Kayapo people, Xingu Indigenous Territory, Brazil, in November 1990. Credit: Sue Cunningham

More than 30 years ago, Chief Raoni of Brazil’s indigenous Kayapo people asked Sting and Trudie Styler to support the Kayapo to protect their traditional lands and culture. In 1988, Sting and Trudie established the Rainforest Foundation and spent the organization’s formative years fighting for the Kayapo people’s land rights. The collaboration led to a historic success in 1993: the legal recognition and protection of the 4,914,000 hectare Menkragnoti Territory, the ancestral lands of the Kayapo. From 1994, the Foundation started applying its approach to include similar initiatives in other parts of Brazil and South America and from 1996, it expanded operations to the rainforest regions of Africa and Indonesia.

The Rainforest Family

Today, the Rainforest Foundation is the biggest NGO working on rights-based forest protection worldwide. The Foundation is composed of three national organizations, based in Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the Rainforest Fund, which provides program support to the national organizations and to selected projects on the ground. All four share the same mission statement, vision, and values. The Foundation’s national organizations specialize in different geographies, with Rainforest Foundation US working mostly in Central and South America, Rainforest Foundation UK working mostly in the Congo Basin and Rainforest Foundation Norway operating across the tropical belt.

Click here to learn more about our work.

Rainforest Foundation US

Rainforest Foundation Norway

Rainforest Foundation UK

Combined Efforts

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.

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Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala
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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.