TREES 3.0: Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Secure Key Wins in Revision of Leading Carbon Market Standard
How Indigenous and local community advocacy strengthened consent, benefit-sharing, and transparency requirements in the world’s leading jurisdictional REDD+ carbon standard.
2025 Annual Impact Report
Securing the Amazon: Indigenous Land Tenure and Forest Protection in Peru
Securing Indigenous peoples’ land rights is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect forests, but the process is often long and risky. In Peru’s Amazon, an Indigenous-led initiative is changing that. A new report unpacks what’s driving its success.
Making Forest Carbon Markets Work for Communities: A Case Study on Benefit Sharing in the REDD+ Guatecarbon Project
Benefit sharing is a critical component of REDD+ forest carbon projects, particularly where Indigenous peoples and local communities are central to forest stewardship. As REDD+ evolves into market-based mechanisms, with carbon credits generating revenue in international carbon markets, ensuring that benefits are distributed fairly is essential for the long term success of the initiative. However, […]
Winter 2025 Newsletter: A Year In Review
A Message From Our Executive Director Dear Friends and Supporters, This year, Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) worked closely with our Indigenous partners to advance their efforts to shape how forest finance reaches communities protecting the world’s rainforests. Despite safeguarding 36% of the world’s tropical forests, Indigenous peoples and local communities receive just 1% of international […]
The Rainforest Foundation Family
RFUS’s 2030 Plan for Forests, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and Climate Action
Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) envisions a world where the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and rainforests flourish. Our 2025–2030 Strategic Plan is a blueprint for achieving that vision, scaling Indigenous-led forest protection across Central and South America so that people, forests, and the climate can thrive together, now and for generations to come. Our […]
A Call for Strengthened Rights Protections in the REDD+ Carbon Market Standard TREES
The jurisdictional REDD+ carbon credit certifier ART published the draft of its standard TREES 3.0 for public comment. Indigenous Peoples as well as Local Communities submitted an input, specifying changes that needed to be made to align the standard with minimum internationally recognized protections for their communities’ rights.
Drought Is Pushing the Amazon Rainforest to the Brink
How Climate Finance Can Reach Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Practical Lessons from Four Regional Case Studies
Indigenous peoples and local communities protect 36% of the world’s intact tropical forests, yet receive less than 1% of international climate funding. If you are familiar with this work, you know this contradiction intimately. But closing the gap requires more than good intentions—it demands practical strategies that navigate entrenched systems while building genuine autonomy. Four […]
