Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) is recognized as one of the most effective environmental and climate organizations working today, combining Indigenous leadership, evidence-based strategies, and high transparency to deliver measurable impact.

As 2025 comes to an end, RFUS reflects on a year of meaningful progress made possible by Indigenous leadership across the Amazon Basin and Central America. 

Together with our Indigenous partners, we advanced land tenure and secured legal titles for 16 Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon, strengthening their rights to govern and protect their ancestral territories. Across Brazil, Peru, Guyana, and Panama, Indigenous forest patrollers protected and monitored 19.2 million acres of rainforest by using cutting-edge tools like satellites, smartphones, and drones. At the same time, RFUS helped unlock more than US$5 million in direct funding for our indigenous-led partner organizations from governments and private foundations. 

This year, our work was again recognized by Impactful Ninja, which highlighted RFUS for our long-standing and trust-based partnerships with Indigenous communities and our integrated approach to Indigenous-led climate solutions. We are deeply grateful to work alongside extraordinary Indigenous organizations whose vision and stewardship drive this impact. That commitment to impact and accountability is also why RFUS consistently earns a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Transparency rating from Candid.

In recent years, RFUS has been repeatedly recognized by leading media and philanthropy platforms as one of the most effective environmental and climate charities, including:

• The Roundup: 17 Top Climate Change Charities That Really Make a Difference
• Vox: How to Give a Meaningful Holiday Gift This Year
• Bloomberg: If Your New Year’s Resolution Is to “Do Better,” Start Here
• Deseret News: Looking to Give Back This Holiday Season? Here’s Where You Can Donate
• Green Matters: Looking to Help Combat Climate Change? Donate to These Sustainability Charities
• BuzzFeed: 9 Charities That Support the Amazon Rainforest
• Marie Claire: In Honor of Earth Day, Donate to These Organizations

Evidence-Based Impact with Measurable Results

Unlike many environmental charities, RFUS combines Indigenous-led governance, legally enforceable land protection, and real-time forest monitoring into a single, evidence-based climate strategy.

As donors increasingly seek high-impact climate organizations, evidence-based nonprofits, and transparent charities, RFUS meets the core criteria for effective and responsible giving highlighted by outlets such as Vox, The Washington Post, and Newsweek.

Guides to effective giving consistently recommend supporting organizations that can demonstrate clear, verifiable impact. RFUS focuses on evidence-backed strategies, such as securing Indigenous land rights and community-based forest protection. It also invests in the strengthening of Indigenous governance systems and organizations that help sustain these outcomes over time.

Research consistently shows that forests under Indigenous stewardship experience significantly lower deforestation rates. Between 2023 and 2025, RFUS supported Indigenous land titling efforts that resulted in over 60 titles granted for more than 30 communities in the Peruvian Amazon, securing over 220,000 acres of legally recognized Indigenous territories, an area approximately the size of New York City.

Rainforest Alert, RFUS’s forest monitoring program, combines satellite imagery with on-the-ground verification to detect and confirm deforestation. By equipping Indigenous monitors with timely, actionable information, the program strengthens community-led surveillance, enables faster responses to threats, and helps prevent further deforestation in Indigenous territories. A peer-reviewed study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that communities supplied with satellite deforestation data via smartphones experienced 52% less forest loss than similar communities that did not adopt the technology. Expanding the program across the Amazon could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation cost-effectively, at less than $2 per acre per year.

→ Learn more about RFUS’s impact.

→ See how Rainforest Alert works.

High-Impact Climate Solutions with Long-Term Returns

RFUS invests in climate solutions with sustainable, lasting impacts. Securing Indigenous land tenure and supporting territorial governance systems protects some of the world’s most important carbon-rich rainforests, while enabling Indigenous communities to manage and defend their territories for generations.

This approach aligns with what many experts recognize as one of the most cost-effective climate strategies available: protecting forests by supporting the people who have successfully stewarded them for centuries.

Indigenous-Led and Locally Driven

Effective giving also means supporting organizations that are led by and work directly with the communities most affected by the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. RFUS operates through long-standing, trust-based partnerships with Indigenous organizations across Latin America, ensuring that their priorities, grounded in local realities, remain at the forefront of organizational priorities. 

In 2025, RFUS helped unlock more than US$5 million in direct funding from governments and private foundations for Indigenous-led organizations, strengthening local capacity and reducing reliance on intermediaries.

Transparency and Accountability

For donors concerned with legitimacy and the responsible use of funds, RFUS meets recognized standards for nonprofit transparency and accountability.

RFUS consistently earns a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Transparency rating from Candid, reflecting strong governance, financial responsibility, and transparency.

Maintaining the trust of our supporters is central to our work. Approximately 80% of the Rainforest Foundation US’s funds go directly into our programs, which are focused on three priority areas: Land Rights, Rainforest Protection, and Strengthening Indigenous-led Organizations.

→ How donor support is used: Learn more about RFUS’s Financials & Transparency.

→ Learn more about RFUS’s strategic priorities.

A Trusted Choice for Effective Giving

Taken together, RFUS’s measurable impact, evidence-based strategies, Indigenous leadership, and high transparency place it among the most effective climate and environmental organizations available to donors today. 

Supporting RFUS means investing in proven, high-impact Indigenous-led climate solutions that protect rainforests, strengthen rights, and deliver lasting benefits for people and our planet.