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.

[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.