News
COVID-19: A call to protect and support rainforest peoples
A call to protect and support rainforest peoples from COVID-19: A joint statement from the Rainforest Foundations of Norway, UK, and US The novel coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world is quickly reshaping everyone’s lives in ways very few people could have imagined. Unfortunately, for indigenous peoples and traditional forest populations around the globe, there is nothing … Read more
The ‘Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’ – a new threat to indigenous people and local communities?
As a group of experts meet in Rome to draft a plan that could double the global area under protected area status to 30 percent by 2030, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and Survival International have raised fears that this could lead to a surge in human rights violations and land conflict if not backed … Read more
Investigation finds illegal tropical timber from the Democratic Republic of Congo may be finding its way into European markets
A report by a French news agency [1] has exposed an industrial-scale illegal logging operation linked to high-level corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following an investigation by the Rainforest Foundation UK’s (RFUK’s) partners’ and other NGOs The journalists, led by Jerome Garro, from TF1, found that ‘Long Xin’ (formerly known as ‘Maniema … Read more
Community Forests change lives: How a Congolese community won rights to their forest
Ilinga received its official community forest title in September 2018 In September 2018, the community of Ilinga received its official community forest title. The community, whose traditional name means “Unity”, is one of eight in Equateur province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), supported by local NGO GASHE[1], as part of Rainforest Foundation UK’s DFID-funded … Read more
DRC government suspends logging company after civil society reports illegal rainforest logging
A major illegal logging operation [1] has been halted by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) government following monitoring by local non-governmental organisations and multiple complaints by forest communities. The DRC environment minister, last Friday (29th November), instructed the governor of the Tshopo Province to suspend the logging permit of the Chinese-owned FODECO [1] in … Read more
New RFUK executive director appointed
Joe Eisen has been appointed as the Rainforest Foundation UK’s (RFUK’s) new executive director as incumbent Simon Counsell prepares to leave the organisation after leading it for the last 23 years. Mr Eisen, who has led RFUK’s policy and research team for five years and worked at the organisation for over a decade, said that … Read more
The realisation of social development projects by logging companies in forest communities: a reality or a utopia?
Article provided by Eco-Dev – RFUK’s local partner in Cameroon A drilling pump in Metsing Village, Cameroon © EcoDev 2019 Rainforests are among the richest ecosystems in the world and have a vital importance for the populations who live within them. They are home to approximately 30 million people and provide livelihood subsistence to a … Read more
RFUK and Greenpeace Africa express alarm at agreement that could lead to more environmental damage in the Republic of Congo
Following the meeting of global leaders at the UN climate summit in New York this week, Rainforest Foundation UK and Greenpeace Africa have raised the alarm that an agreement between the governments of Norway and France and the Republic of Congo to protect its rainforest and peatlands gives a green light to oil exploitation in … Read more
Indigenous Amazonian cocoa producers awarded prestigious ‘Equator Prize’ at UN Climate Action Summit
Photo – Mike Goldwater A cooperative of indigenous cocoa producers based in a remote part of the Peruvian rainforest was awarded the biennial UN Development Programme’s Equator Prize in recognition of its “outstanding community effort to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity” at a ceremony in New York yesterday (Tuesday, 24th September). … Read more
Area of community forests in DRC passes one million hectares, as RFUK helps DR Congo’s government with new tools
Human rights and environmental charity, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK), and its local partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are formally handing over to the country’s government an online ‘database‘, providing accurate maps and essential information on all community forests. RFUK’s local partners, APEM, CAGDFT, GASHE, PREPPYG and Réseau CREF have helped develop … Read more