Rainforest Foundation UK

The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is a non-profit NGO working in Africa and South America. It is one of the first international organizations to support the indigenous peoples of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights to land, life and livelihood. The Foundation aims to protect rainforests by securing the land rights of indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities. It also campaigns internationally on issues such as industrial logging, climate change, agricultural expansion and nature conservation. It forms part of the Rainforest Foundation network, with independent sister organizations in the United States and Norway: the Rainforest Foundation US and the Rainforest Foundation Norway. The Rainforest Foundation was first founded in 1989 by Sting and his wife Trudie Styler after the indigenous leader of the Kayapo people of Brazil, the Chief Raoni made a personal request to them to help his community protect their lands and culture. The Rainforest Foundation's initial project was successful in coordinating the first ever privately funded demarcation of indigenous land in the region - 17,000 square miles of traditional land, the Menkragnoti area, next to Xingu National Park, was demarcated and legally titled to the Kayapo people by the Brazilian government in 1993. Since then the Rainforest Foundation UK, along with its sister organizations the Rainforest Foundation US, The Rainforest Foundation Norway, and the Rainforest Foundation Fund, have protected tens of millions of hectares of forest in 20 different rainforest countries around the globe. Together, the Rainforest Foundation family and its local partners is the largest global network of organisations dedicated to indigenous and community-led rainforest conservation. The Rainforest Foundation UK promotes a rights-based approach to rainforest protection. Its approach is founded on the belief that the best way to protect rainforest ecosystems is through empowering indigenous peoples and other forest dwellers to defend their fundamental rights to lands and resources.