Scaling our impact

Solutions exist to save the world’s remaining large, contiguous rainforests and ensure a livable climate future for our children, a future where biodiversity and human rights are upheld. But they require urgent support.

Science has made it clear: we will not solve the climate and biodiversity crises without the world’s tropical rainforests. Keeping them standing goes hand in hand with protecting the rights of their best guardians – indigenous peoples and forest communities whose lives and cultures have depended on rainforests from time immemorial.

Effective solutions in need of funding

In spite of the overwhelming evidence documenting the role of rights-based rainforest protection in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, Rainforest Foundation Norway’s Falling short report documented that such solutions only receive a tiny stream of funding in the sea of development aid for climate and forests, and only a fraction of that stream reaches the forest peoples themselves. More broadly, business-as-usual continues to make deforestation economically and politically more viable, today, than keeping rainforests standing and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

At long last, the vital role of IPLCs in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss was recognized at the last climate conference, COP26. Impressive commitments were made. This historical momentum must be seized. Channeling and implementing these funds through carefully selected mechanisms and partners will be crucial if they are to make a difference for the world’s forest guardians.

Here's how we help

Building on more than three decades of support and cooperation with a coalition of over 50 long-term, trusted indigenous and other rainforest organizations known for their local expertise and deep roots in local communities, RFN’s pitchbook shines a light on indigenous- and community-led solutions needed to turn business-as-usual on its head. We estimate it will take at least $230 million over the next five years to reach the scale needed to win the fight for indigenous land rights and deforestation-free supply chains. Behind this number are catalytic, locally-relevant solutions designed with and for the indigenous peoples and local communities, detailed below.