Three Thoughts on the Fires in the Amazon
RFUS explains why the Amazon is burning, and what we and our indigenous partners are doing about it.
Rainforest Foundation US Partners Score a Hat Trick at the 2019 Equator Prize
Three of RFUS’s partner organizations won the UN Equator Prize for innovative forest protection and development strategies.
The Defenders of Darién
A spotlight on Rainforest Foundation US’s Carlos Doviaza, indigenouso Embera cartographer, and other defenders of Panama’s Darien rainforests
Naso Land Rights in the Balance
The Naso People of Panama have been fighting for legal recognition of their territory for more than 50 years. On February 20, 2019, the National Assembly of Panama officially recognized their lands. But will the President ratify the decision?
Brazil’s Elections: A Call To Action
With the election of Jair Bolsonaro, the consequences for Brazil’s environment look bleak. But indigenous peoples are leading by example.
Scaling Up Indigenous Land Titling in Panama
The National Coordination of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP) has been engaged in a decades-long battle with Panama’s Ministry of the Environment to secure land rights for ancestral forests. Read about this fight, and the renewed push for recognition by COONAPIP.
Fortress Conservation Hurts Our Planet
Fortress conservation is a standard method of protection for old-growth forests. This practice forbids any and all human interference with the land. Read how this idea, while good on paper, has troubling implications for indigenous populations.
Protecting Guyana’s Rainforest: A Story in Maps and Videos
The government of Guyana has an international commitment to conserving an additional 2 million hectares of forest. Formally recognizing indigenous collective lands could be the solution.
Rainforests Are Destroyed While Government Deliberates
Far from Georgetown or other large settlements, the villages’ lands had been largely untouched by outside forces. Yet the geographical remoteness which had previously sheltered these communities is ending as new infrastructure makes it easier to access this region, putting its native populations in danger.
Direct Action Tips the Scales!
After hundreds of indigenous representatives and their allies blocked the entrances to Panama’s Ministry of the Environment, the director of MiAmbiente sat down to negotiate land rights petitions.
