Good news for the rainforest in 2025

The year is coming to an end, and as we look back, we'd like to share a selection of positive results and developments from the past year. Together with our valued partners and supporters, we look forward to making promises and pledges a reality for the rainforests and the people who depend on them.

FIERCE: A jaguar (Panthera onca) in the Amazon rainforest. Photo: Thomas Marent

By Rainforest Foundation Norway. Last updated 15. December 2025

**AGREEMENT:** Indigenous representative Fabio Valencia signs the agreement together with Lena Estrada, Colombian Minister of Environment. Photo: David Florez/Rainforest Foundation Norway

Indigenous peoples gain stronger governance in 40% of the Colombian Amazon

Indigenous leaders and the Colombian government agree on major steps for Indigenous land management and local governments, covering 40% of the Colombian Amazon.

**ANNOUNCEMENT:** An visibly moved Indigenous representative at the announcement of the new Indigenous territories at COP30. Photo: Mayra Wapichana/Funai

Brazil recognises four new Indigenous territories the size of North Macedonia

Brazil recognised four new Indigenous territories at the COP30 climate conference in Brazil. The four new territories cover a total of 25,000 square kilometres of rainforest, roughly the size of North Macedonia.

The largest of these Indigenous territories, the Kaxuyana-Tunayana Territory, covers an area of 22,000 square kilometres. Rainforest Foundation Norway, together with our Indigenous partner Iepé, has been working for 20 years to achieve formal recognition of this territory.

This gives Indigenous groups the legal right to manage their forest areas, which are highly vulnerable to illegal deforestation and other environmental crimes.

**PROTEST:** Representatives of the Achuar people demonstrate in front of oil company GeoPark's headquarters in Santiago de Chile in 2019 in connection with a previous attempt at oil exploration in block 64. Photo: IIDS

Victory in Peru: Indigenous peoples succeed in stopping oil exploration in the rainforest

The Wampis and Achuar nations of the Peruvian Amazon once again successfully halted oil exploration in Block 64, a contested area that overlaps their ancestral territories.

**FOREST MONITORING:** Members of a local community in Itombwe in the Democratic Republic of Congo received training in forest monitoring in 2020. Photo: Alexis Huguet/Rainforest Foundation Norway.

DR Congo: Indigenous peoples and local communities receive direct support for forest conservation

The first grants from The Community Fund for Forests (CFF) were successfully disbursed. The grants will directly benefit over 24,800 people across 11 forest communities in the DRC’s rainforests.

The grants from this groundbreaking fund will be used to improve forest monitoring, sustainable forest management and efforts to strengthen local communities' legal rights to their rainforests.

**COMMUNITY:** A woman from a local community on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia feeds her chickens. Photo: Anja Lillegraven/RFN

Indonesia aims to recognise Indigenous forest areas the size of Switzerland

The Indonesian government has set a target of recognising traditional forest areas totalling 40,000 square kilometres by 2029. This is an area almost as large as Switzerland.

The Rainforest Foundation's Indonesian Indigenous partner organisation HUMA is involved in the process to help drive progress and ensure Indigenous representation.

This is an important step that strengthens Indigenous land rights and forest conservation and paves the way for social justice and sustainable forest management.

**BIODIVERSITY:** The perfumed passionflower (*Passiflora Vitifolia).* Photo: Thomas Marent

Ambitious pledges for forests and Indigenous rights at COP30

Indigenous peoples’ rights was a key issue at COP30 in Brazil. A donor pledge to support Indigenous peoples tenure rights with 1.8 billion USD was renewed up to 2030.

11 rainforest countries made new commitments to strengthen the territorial rights of Indigenous and local communities to over 160 million hectares of traditional lands by 2030.

**BEAUTIFUL:** Rainforest in fog. Photo: Thomas Marent

Institutional investors send clear signal to halt deforestation

In 2025, Rainforest Foundation Norway convened the Belém Investor Statement on Rainforests, together with global partners, uniting 51 investors with USD 4.6 trillion in assets to call for strong, enforceable policies to halt deforestation by 2030.

At a time when no other collective investor message on forests was emerging, the statement filled a crucial gap. It highlighted the material financial and systemic risks linked to tropical deforestation, from exposure to forest-risk commodities to the erosion of essential ecosystem services, and urged governments to act.

By securing these commitments and sending a clear signal to policymakers in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém, RFN helped strengthen global momentum for deforestation-free finance.

**LOCAL:** A woman from a local community in Indonesian Papua. Photo: Anja Lillegraven/RFN

Norway pledges NOK 2.2 billion for Indigenous peoples

Norway will provide NOK 2.2 billion, approximately USD 220 million, by the end of 2030 to increase efforts to give indigenous peoples and local communities better rights and more funding to protect the rainforest.

This is an important signal of the significance of indigenous peoples' rights for forest conservation – one of our most effective tools for solving the climate and nature crises.

**MINING:** A bauxite mine in the Amazon. Photo: Shutterstock

Mining companies under pressure from investors

Rainforest Foundation Norway in 2025 provided input to Norway’s Council on Ethics regarding Rio Tinto’s operations in the Amazon and Eramet’s nickel activities in Indonesia.

RFN highlighted risks of human rights violations affecting uncontacted Indigenous Peoples and deforestation linked to the Weda Bay Industrial Park. This input informed the Council’s recommendations to exclude both companies from the Government Pension Fund Global. The fund chose active engagement with Rio Tinto over immediate divestment, while Eramet was excluded in September 2025.

At the same time, Storebrand Asset Management excluded Rio Tinto, citing severe environmental damage and human rights concerns. These actions illustrate growing investor pressure for responsible practices and rainforest protection.