Rainforest Foundation Fund

Description

Rainforest Foundation Fund is a charitable foundation that supports Indigenous Peoples and traditional forest populations who protect rainforests.

It funds programs and projects that help Indigenous communities assert and defend their land rights, promote sustainable development and challenge government or corporate practices that damage their environment. Grants typically cover about 80 percent of a project’s budget over a three-year period, so grantee organizations also raise part of the funds themselves. Work is carried out through partnerships with local communities and representative Indigenous organizations rather than by administering projects directly.

Support covers land demarcation, legal defense, technological training, community development, organizational capacity building, sustainable resource management, and local, national and international policy and advocacy. The fund has backed projects addressing issues such as illegal logging, mining, oil exploitation and dam construction on Indigenous lands.

The organization was founded in 1987 and has worked across four continents in 14 countries. It has supported more than 300 projects and raised more than 45 million dollars for Indigenous led initiatives.