About us
Rainforest Foundation Norway is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) working to protect the rainforests and the rights of Indigenous and forest peoples, in collaboration with a unique network of local partners.
PARTNERS: Rainforest Foundation Norway works with over 60 local partners to save the rainforest and secure the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Photo: Morten Høy/RFN
By Rainforest Foundation Norway.
Rainforest Foundation Norway is one of the largest rainforest organizations in the world.
Together with over 60 partner organizations in six rainforest countries in South America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia, we offer solutions to the main challenges of our time: the climate and nature crises.
PARTNERS: Representatives from Indigenous organizations working on a project to establish a contiguous area of protected rainforest for isolated Indigenous peoples on the Peruvian/Brazilian border. Photo: Chaikuni/RFN
We work with our partners to:
- support Indigenous and forest peoples in securing land rights
- prevent policy and business interests from contributing to the destruction of the rainforests
- consolidate policies and practices that serve to protect the rainforests and its inhabitants
- engage in advocacy in key international processes concerning rainforest issues
By connecting partners, civil society networks within and across countries and continents, promoting knowledge sharing and learning exchanges, we bring innovative, tested solutions to the scale needed.
Since 1989, Rainforest Foundation Norway has achieved results far beyond what our budget and size would indicate: We have influenced major international funding flows by having Norwegian authorities, UN agencies and international donors and investors prioritizing rainforest protection.
We champion direct support towards our network of partners, and we ensure that donor and investor funds are spent effectively and make an impact.
REPLANTING: Rainforest Foundation Norway supports a project that replants rainforest in the Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon using seeds collected by Indigenous communities. Photo: Rogerio Assis/ISA
Rainforest Foundation UK, US and Norway
Rainforest Foundation UK, Rainforest Foundation US and Rainforest Foundation Norway are three organizations independent of each other, but with a long-established working relationship.
We work towards the same goal, but focus on different geographical areas: The US mainly works in Central and South America, the UK in The Congo Basin and Rainforest Foundation Norway operates across three continents: South America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
Rainforest Foundation Norway has the size, credibility and a long-standing network of over 60 local partners needed to deliver tangible results.
How it all began
In 1989, the British musician, activist and actor Sting and his wife Trudy Styler founded the Rainforest Foundation. It was their answer to a direct request from the Indigenous Kayapó people of Brazil, to help them protect their lands and their culture. The same year, the Norwegian branch of the international Rainforest Foundation network was founded. In 1997, we became an independent foundation.
In 2003, we reorganised as a democratic organization with five Norwegian member organizations: Friends of the Earth Norway, The Development Fund, The Future in our hands, Nature and Youth, and Eco-Agents.
REUNION: The musician Sting and the Indigenous Kayapó leader Raoni meet again, 20 years after setting out on the rainforest awareness tour that was to change both of their lives. Their first meeting was the spark that started the Rainforest Foundation network. Photo: Beto Ricardo/ISA
«The world’s large, contiguous rainforest areas are managed in ways that uphold biodiversity, forest ecosystem services and the human rights of indigenous and other forest-dependent peoples and communities.»
The overall objective of Rainforest Foundation Norway’s work towards the year 2030
