No Forests = No Future: A Call to Support Indigenous Defenders on the Frontlines
As we near the end of 2025, an urgent truth continues to drive our work: Without tropical forests, we have no future. Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) has long supported Indigenous partners across the Amazon basin and Central America’s rainforests. It has been proven time again that Indigenous peoples are the most impactful defenders of rainforests […]
The Amazon Spoke. Did World Leaders at COP30 Listen?
Every day, decisions made by governments, banks, and investors open the door to intensified resource extraction on Indigenous peoples’ territories. And with each decision made, the Amazon, a rainforest long at the mercy of extractive industries, is pushed closer to an irreversible tipping point. So when world leaders united to debate who should decide how […]
Amazon Flotilla: Indigenous Peoples Must be at the Center of COP30 Climate Negotiations
An extraordinary journey along the Amazon River just took place. The Yaku Mama Flotilla traveled over 1,800 miles from the Andes in Ecuador to Belém, Brazil, the host city of the next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30). This is the first time in history that the COP will take place in the Amazon. Onboard […]
Building a Fairer Forest Finance System: Indigenous Leadership in the Tropical Forests Forever Facility
As world leaders prepare to gather in Belém, Brazil, for COP30 in November, one topic is expected to take center stage: the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF)—an ambitious proposal from the Brazilian government to create a lasting financial mechanism for forest protection. The TFFF aims to provide countries with steady, long-term payments for proven forest […]
In 2024, Amazon fires scorched an area equivalent to the entire state of California—in Brazil alone.
In 2024, fires devastated the Amazon at an unprecedented scale. For the first time on record, fires were the leading cause of forest loss in the Amazon. More than 44.2 million acres of rainforest burned, an area larger than the entire state of California.
Why Guyana’s Wapichan Headwaters Must Be Defended
The ancestral lands of Guyana’s Wapichan, Macushi, and Wai Wai peoples are currently under threat from illegal gold mining and deforestation. A roadmap for protecting the region is underway.
Forest Carbon Data Helps Communities Benefit Financially from their Forests
By Isabela Barriga, David Gibbs and Cameron Ellis This article was originally published by Global Forest Watch and is republished here with permission. You can view the original article here. Indigenous Peoples and local communities play a crucial role in protecting forests and the areas they manage tend to experience lower deforestation rates than other […]
Saweto: Historic Sentences Confirmed Against the Killers of Ashéninka Leaders
After eleven years of struggle, a historic victory for Indigenous justice has finally been secured. On August 25, 2025, the Superior Court of Ucayali upheld the convictions of illegal loggers Hugo Soria Flores, José Estrada Huayta, and brothers Segundo and Josimar Atachi Félix. The court confirmed their sentences of 28 years and 3 months in […]
Indigenous Communities Lead Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Peruvian Amazon
A bold strategy is emerging in response to the escalating threats of fire and drought in the Amazon. Shaped by those who know the forest best, Indigenous peoples are forging their own path, leading climate adaptation efforts rooted in ancestral knowledge, territorial defense, and collective survival. From the territories, for the territories, this plan is […]
10 Compelling Books by Indigenous Authors to Read on International Day of Indigenous Peoples and Beyond
Every year on August 9 we celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. On this day in 1982, the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations held its first meeting in Geneva where they drafted the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, asserting their rights to self determination. Across the globe, many Indigenous […]
