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New cases of human rights abuses emerge as Buzzfeed exposé shows how WWF tried to cover up earlier reports of atrocities

12 July 2019

Recent investigations by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and Congolese group APEM have documented new violent crimes at the hands of park rangers supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Salonga National Park in Democratic of Congo (DRC). In 2017, a local school director was allegedly shot dead by Salonga’s eco-guards and … Read more

Making Community Forests Work for Local and Indigenous Communities in the Central African Republic

11 July 2019

As the Central African Republic (CAR) is entering a decisive phase that could lead to the allocation of the country’s first ‘pilot’ community forests, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and CAR civil society groups are supporting local communities in their application processes.

Voice of the communities: Why we need community forests in the Central African Republic

1 July 2019

In a historic development, three communities in the Central African Republic (CAR) were recently given the legal right to protect almost 15,000 hectares of their local rainforest, in the country’s very first community forests [1]. The customary territories of the villages of Moalé, Lokombé and Moloukou had been allocated by the government some years ago … Read more

The Green Climate Fund in the Congo Basin Rainforests – Good Money After Bad?

1 July 2019

A report published by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) on the Green Climate Fund finds that one of the world’s largest climate adaptation and mitigation funds for developing countries may actually do more harm to tropical forests and people on the frontline of climate change unless it is reformed.

The Green Climate Fund in the Congo Basin Rainforests – Good Money After Bad?

1 July 2019

A new report published today by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) on the Green Climate Fund finds that one of the world’s largest climate adaptation and mitigation funds for developing countries may actually do more harm to tropical forests and people on the frontline of climate change unless it is reformed. The Green Climate Fund … Read more

Donors called on to address breakdown in forest governance in DR Congo as Chinese company accused of widespread illegal logging

26 June 2019

London-based charity the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and Congolese civil society groups are calling on donors of forestry programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to address the breakdown in forest governance in DRC after a Chinese company, accused of illegally logging, was suddenly acquitted by a local court. Following reports by local communities … Read more

Yaoundé Declaration Declaration: Statement Concerning Community Forestry in the Congo Basin Region

10 June 2019

Organisations and individuals from Central Africa, along with international partners from Europe, came together in Yaoundé in February 2019 to discuss the lessons from the recent years of community forest development in the Congo Basin, especially in the context of the projects funded through DFID’s ILLUCBF programme.

Severe Human Rights Abuses Reported in and around Salonga National Park

6 June 2019

An investigation by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and Congolese NGO Actions pour la Promotion et la Protection des Peuples et Espèces Menacés (APEM), uncovered a worrying number of human rights abuses allegedly carried out by Salonga National Park’s anti-poaching agents, who receive support and funding from a range of international donors. Allegations include cases … Read more

From war to sustainable chocolate: Indigenous Amazonian cocoa producers awarded prestigious United Nations ‘Equator Prize’

5 June 2019

A cooperative of indigenous cocoa producers based in a remote part of the Peruvian rainforest has won 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.” Kemito Ene (“cocoa from the Ene River”) was formed in 2010, with support from the Rainforest … Read more

Safer Ground: How Participatory Mapping can Mitigate the Social Impacts of Agribusiness in the Congo Basin

3 June 2019

The expansion of commercial agriculture in the Congo Basin, especially for palm oil, poses great risks to forests and the people who depend on them for their livelihoods and culture. While efforts to make palm oil more ‘sustainable’ focus on avoiding deforestation and biodiversity loss, far less attention has been paid to land rights and … Read more