Rainforest Partnership

[STANDING FOREST PROTECTION WITH INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES] In 2023, Rainforest Partnership strengthened and facilitated the protection of standing tropical rainforests threatened by deforestation, habitat and biodiversity loss, and loss of vital ecosystem services in partnership with several indigenous and local rainforest communities in the Peruvian Tropical Andes and the Ecuadorian Amazon. For example, the "Women of the Rio Napo" project is an ongoing collaboration with over 100 women in 5 Kichwa communities along the Napo River in Ecuador who protect over 149,500 acres of rainforest, including some of the most biodiverse in the world. These communities maintain the health of the forest within their boundaries and protect community land from illegal deforestation and the encroachment of industries like oil exploration and palm oil plantations. We are a) supporting women's sustainable livelihood projects to support themselves economically and strengthen their capacities to protect the forest, including: aquaculture, agroforestry, beekeeping, and ecotourism, and b) creating educational and capacity building opportunities for women to build skills and expertise. The project strengthens food sovereignty and economic stability and opportunity in these communities who own and protect vast areas of forest and prevent the loss of a still-thriving landscape in the Ecuadorian Amazon. See Schedule O for additional project information.

[GLOBAL ACTIVATION INITIATIVES] Rainforest Partnership educates, inspires, and brings together individuals and organizations worldwide to empower and accelerate the systemic change necessary to scale radical global action and conservation impact to end deforestation by 2030. Films for the Forest, Rainforest Partnership's annual international film competition, inspires people globally through beautifully told impact-driven stories; our World Rainforest Day and Rainforest Collective programs catalyze systemic change, rallying individuals, local communities, and global organizations to create powerful impact on the ground to protect and revitalize rainforests. These programs leverage the power of partnership, unlocking resources to magnify the scope and success of conservation projects on the ground. On June 22, we celebrated World Rainforest Day, founded by Rainforest Partnership in 2017, with the annual World Rainforest Day Summit. In 2023, along with rainforest and rainforest community advocacy at events around the world, including COP28 in Dubai, our 3rd annual World Rainforest Day Summit was represented by participants from 77 countries, and had a social media reach of 93.8 million people. Films for the Forest 2023 screened 10 powerful stories reaching over 1000 people around the world. See Schedule O for additional project information.

[BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION] In 2023, Rainforest Partnership strengthened protection of critical, threatened, and rare biodiversity in the Peruvian Tropical Andes and Ecuadorian Amazon by conducting groundbreaking biodiversity research and strengthening local capacities to lead conservation initiatives on the ground. In Peru, the team led 5 expeditions to study and discover rare and threatened amphibians and reptiles and discovered 5 new species and 10 potential new species and has been part of officially published findings of an additional 4 species new to science. This research strengthens conservation of vast landscapes like the 900,000 acre Cordillera de Colan and of fragmented cloudforests urgently threatened and at risk of disappearing entirely. By leading research, training park rangers, producing scientific publications and discovering species new to science, we inform conservation and restoration efforts and record knowledge about threatened species potentially on the brink of extinction. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, we trained dozens of National Park Rangers in butterfly monitoring and biodiversity research and produced environmental education content to strengthen conservation and environmental awareness of the importance of Ecuador's National Parks and of butterflies, which are early alarm systems for the effects of deforestation and climate change on rainforests and wildlife. See Schedule O for additional information.

Youth Engagement/Global Representation and Accountability