News
The Paris climate agreement; what does it mean for rainforests?
by Simon Counsell, Executive Director, RFUK The global agreement signed in Paris in December has been heralded as a historic moment in efforts to tackle climate change. The destruction and burning of rainforests contributes perhaps 10% of all man-made greenhouse additions to the atmosphere. There has been much talk of how exactly to stop this, and … Read more
Amazonian Leader Receives Indigenous Award for Rights Advocacy
Amazonian leader receives indigenous award for rights advocacy Indigenous leader and Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) partner Ruth Buendía has been awarded the Bartolomé de las Casas prize for her commitment to standing up for the human and environmental rights of the Asháninka people in the Peruvian Amazon. The jury, acting for the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s … Read more
Real-time monitoring technology being tested in four countries
The Rainforest Foundation UK is currently collaborating with local partners in three African countries – Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana – as well as in the Peruvian Amazon to implement innovative real-time monitoring (RTM) projects in cooperation with local rainforest communities. By engaging communities in the fight to tackle illegal logging, these projects … Read more
From the Forest
Aldo Soto is the Rainforest Foundation UK’s Programme Coordinator for Peru. He is currently in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon, where we are working with indigenous communities to protect their rainforest. “I am here to train communities in the use of ForestLink, which enables forest people in the remotest areas of … Read more
More than 60 organisations call for a halt to drilling in Africa’s oldest national park
RFUK has joined over 60 organisations calling on UNESCO and the governments of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to reach an agreement to prevent any oil exploration, extraction or related activities in Virunga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, (DRC). Last year, British oil company, SOCO International, carried out seismic testing on Lake … Read more
RFUK partner awarded ‘French Republic’s Human Rights Prize’
Congolese Human Rights Observatory (Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l’Homme), OCDH, one of RFUK’s local partners based in the Republic of Congo, has been awarded the 2015 French Republic’s Human Rights Prize. The organisation’s executive director, Trésor Nzila Kendet, who accepted the award at a ceremony held today (Friday) in Paris, said it was well-deserved and … Read more
Sting and celebrity friends lend a hand in charity Christmas auction
RFUKs ’12 Days of Christmas’ eBay auction will run from 12th – 23rd November and features celebrity-crafted Christmas cards, limited-edition artworks and luxury experiences – all proceeds going directly to projects which help to protect the future of the rainforests and the rights of indigenous and forest people. The online auction features limited-edition pieces from … Read more
ForestLink – putting the power to save forests in local peoples’ hands
An audience at The Royal Institution (RI) in London on Wednesday heard how millions of ‘community forest monitors’ could be mobilised by a new system devised by RFUK that enables them to report illegal logging in real-time. The meeting heard from Georges-Thierry Handja, RFUK’s mapping coordinator,that the system had already been successfully tested in Cameroon and would … Read more
Announcing our BBC Radio 4 Appeal Presenter – Charlie Hamilton James!
We are delighted to announce that photojournalist Charlie Hamilton James is our BBC Radio 4 presenter this year! The recording took place at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London yesterday and will first air on July 19. Watch this space for news and updates on the appeal…! Share this: Share on Email Email Share on … Read more
Indigenous peoples convene on how new technologies can help respond to new threats in tropical forests
Indigenous representatives from around the world convened last week in New York to share experiences of community mapping and how emerging technologies could help scale up efforts to document forest peoples’ occupation and use of rainforests in the face of increasing threats. The event, Indigenous Mapping – Protecting Rights in a Changing World, was hosted … Read more