Violence Returns to a People Scarred by Genocide

The Yanomami, an indigenous people in the northern Amazon rainforest, were attacked by illegal gold miners several times in recent weeks, leaving several people wounded and two young children dead. With tens of thousands of miners still illegally occupying their land, the threat of continued violence remains.

A Challenge in the Peruvian Amazon: To Stop Spreading COVID, Spread COVID Information Instead

On the heels of a recent survey of indigenous communities in Peru revealing widespread unfamiliarity with COVID-19 and hesitancy about the vaccine, RFUS has teamed up with indigenous partner organizations on a multilingual COVID-19 awareness campaign.

Mining on Sacred Land in Raposa Serra do Sol

Gold mining brings prospectors, disease, and destruction to indigenous lands in Brazil. But indigenous communities are fighting back.

In Guyana, New Documentation of the Land Indigenous People Hold (and the Land They’re Unjustly Denied)

RFUS supported the Amerindian Peoples Association to conduct a nation-wide assessment of indigenous lands in Guyana. The report exposes inconsistencies and injustices in the land recognition process.

New COVID-19 Variant Threatens Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon

A new variant of COVID-19 is putting indigenous peoples across the Amazon at heightened risk–yet again. Reports from the ground come from Peru and Brazil.

The Naso People of Panama Celebrate Land Rights Win After a 50-Year Struggle

Panama’s Supreme Court awards the Naso people with title to 160,000 hectares of their traditional lands.

International Statement of Solidarity with Peruvian Indigenous Peoples During the Political Crisis

RFUS and a coalition of nonprofits express their support for indigenous peoples in Peru and rejection of the current Prime Minister.

Meet Fernando Durán, President of the Reforestation Committee of Buen Jardín de Callaru

This is the story of Fernando Durán, who is leading his community of Buen Jardín de Callaru to restore landscapes destroyed by illegal loggers and coca-growers.

Fires in the Amazon Shift with the Seasons, and Rage On

Rainforest Foundation US analyzes Amazon fire data from 2019 and 2020. Indigenous peoples’ traditional land management practices lower the risk of extreme forest fires.

Land Rights in the Time of COVID-19: An Avenue for Protection and Security

Land rights have been fundamental to the pandemic response of indigenous communities, like that of the Embera of Panama’s Darien.