Protecting Guyana’s Rainforest: A Story in Maps and Videos
Indigenous communities are key to protecting the forest, and in Guyana, indigenous customary lands cover large extents of the interior. The government of Guyana has an international commitment to conserving an additional 2 million hectares of forest – the majority of which would overlap with customary indigenous lands.
In places where indigenous communities have full control of their forests, the rainforest thrives. Yet in Guyana more than a third of indigenous villages are still waiting for legal recognition of their collective lands. Many more villages are fighting to expand their land titles beyond the small areas that are frequently granted so that they can more effectively protect their ancestral forests. These are forests that the communities have used for hundreds if not thousands of years as hunting grounds and places to forage; many of the lands hold deep historical and or spiritual significance to the communities.
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RFUS Joins Indigenous Leaders to Address Climate Challenges and Community Rights in Roraima, Brazil
We have expanded our programming in Brazil to focus on territorial defense, Indigenous governance, and territorial control through community-led forest patrolling. Learn more about our recent visit to Brazil, where we strengthened ties with partners in Roraima, including the Indigenous Council of Roraima’s (CIR), Hutukara – Yanomami Association, Seduume, and Wai-Wai organizations.
Justice Prevails: Peru Court Sentences Murderers of Indigenous Land Defenders to 28 Years
After ten long years, justice was served on Thursday, April 11, for the victims of the emblematic Saweto case in the Ucayali region of Peru. The Court sentenced the five accused to 28 years and three months of imprisonment for the crimes against Ashéninka community leaders from Alto Tamaya – Saweto: Edwin Chota Valera, Jorge Ríos Pérez, Francisco Pinedo Ramírez, and Leoncio Quintisima Meléndez, who were brutally murdered on September 1, 2014.
Carbon Markets and Our Rights: A Guide for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
The voluntary carbon market is quickly evolving and being introduced in new territories, making it challenging to sort out who’s who and what the implications are for impacted communities. To support Indigenous communities and local communities to better understand carbon markets, Rainforest Foundation US has launched the first three videos of a six-part animated series to demystify the market and provide communities with the essential information to protect their rights.
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Indigenous Communities Are Dedicated to Protecting Guyana’s Rainforests
