Donations spotlight: Support Rainforest Foundation US as it defends the Indigenous and traditional peoples of the world’s rainforests

Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This October, Rainforest Foundation US is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support the Rainforest Foundation, founded over 30 years ago by Sting and Trudie Styler, as it works to uphold the rights of Indigenous and traditional peoples of the world’s rainforests and protect their environment.

 Read this important blog post about the Rainforest Foundation, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding October grantees.

The work of Rainforest Foundation US integrates scientific evidence, technology and Indigenous knowledge to effectively protect rainforests and tackle the climate crisis.

That Indigenous knowledge is key, because Indigenous peoples are masters of climate change mitigation. Indigenous lands in the Amazon are effective carbon sinks, absorbing more carbon than they release. Lands legally held or titled to Indigenous people have lower deforestation rates than untitled Indigenous lands.

Indigenous peoples have shaped and managed vast rainforest territories for millennia. These rainforests regulate rainfall, store carbon and shelter immense biodiversity and sociocultural diversity. In recent years, several studies have provided statistical evidence confirming that lands legally titled to Indigenous peoples are the most efficient models for forest protection.

This is why Rainforest Foundation US directly supports Indigenous communities to gain title for their customary lands, one of just a handful of organizations that do this work.

Forests managed by Indigenous peoples capture more carbon

Indigenous peoples’ lands in the Amazon act as robust carbon sinks. And they contrast sharply with areas under public and private management, which frequently struggle to maintain their ecological balance and often become sources of carbon emissions. Areas of the Amazon managed by Indigenous peoples with documented or formal land claims have been some of the most secure and reliable net carbon sinks over the past two decades. Between 2001 and 2021, these forests emitted around 120 million metric tons of CO2 annually while removing 460 million metric tons, resulting in a net total of 340 million metric tons removed from the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the annual fossil fuel emissions by the U.K.

Fortunately, we’re now seeing the advancement of formal recognition for Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local communities’ lands, with an increase of 254 million acres between 2015 and 2020. But we know we still have a lot of work ahead of us. At least 3.2 billion acres of ancestral lands remain unrecognized under national laws, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and degradation. Moreover, as many countries in the Global South push for speedy economic and industrial development, the demand for land—including Indigenous peoples’ territories—intensifies.

Land rights are crucial to halt deforestation

The critical role of Indigenous communities holding land titles is evident in the Brazilian Amazon. By examining data from 245 Indigenous territories ratified between 1982 and 2016, researchers found that deforestation significantly decreased within these territories once they were legally recognized. Communities with established collective property rights have legal backing to protect their lands against the unauthorized exploitation of resources, leading to an approximate 66% decrease in border deforestation, the researchers showed.

More research, published in 2023, indicated a heightened capacity for the restoration of deforested lands in titled Indigenous territories. Over a 33-year span, these areas experienced a 5% increase in secondary forest coverage, 23% greater growth than on adjacent privately owned or unincorporated lands.

Technology can bolster Indigenous-led rainforest protection

An analysis of Rainforest Foundation’s Rainforest Alert methodology, published in 2021 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that communities equipped with satellite data via smartphones saw dramatically less forest loss than similar communities that did not adopt the technology.

Between 2018 and 2019, researchers implemented Indigenous-led, technology-based forest-monitoring programs in 36 communities in Loreto, the northernmost region of the Peruvian Amazon. Those under the program saw 52% and 21% less deforestation in the first and second year of the program respectively, compared with 37 other communities in Loreto where the program wasn’t implemented. The gains were concentrated in communities at highest risk of deforestation and resulted in the protection of 19. 5 million acres in 2023 alone.

The important takeaway in these findings is the contribution made by Indigenous and community-managed lands to mitigating climate change and enhancing biodiversity conservation. Expanding land rights is pivotal for environmental protection efforts, as is stressing the need for policies and support to secure Indigenous and community land management and ownership as a critical step toward achieving global climate and biodiversity targets. Integrating Indigenous peoples’ territories into conservation strategies, increasing government support for Indigenous land management and ensuring that a greater portion of climate finance reaches Indigenous communities directly are all essential and urgent acts, and are core to Rainforest Foundation US’s work.

To learn more about how Rainforest Foundation US works with Indigenous partners to protect the Amazon and rainforests in Central America, please sign up to receive our emails and read 10 Things You Can Do. Also visit RainforestFoundation.org.