The Rainforest Foundation FUND was created in 1999, after ten years of working as Rainforest Foundation International. STING and Trudie Styler founded Rainforest Foundation International in 1989. Its aims were to promote worldwide awareness of the need to conserve the tropical forests, to support the indigenous peoples in their efforts to conserve their land and develop their sustainable methods of resource management, to protect them against any violation of their rights which are universally recognized in International law. Composed of Three national organizations :
- Rainforest Foundation Norway
- Rainforest Foundation UK
- Rainforest Foundation US
In its early years Rainforest Foundation International and its national organizations focussed their action in Brazil through its Brazilian's office Fundacao Mata Virgem.
It has achieved its goals to demarcate the Mekranoti territory, the land of the Kayapo' Indians, an area as big as Switzerland, after five years of struggle, taking action to defend their land from invasion and subsequent destruction of their unique ecosystem. It has helped the Indigenous Communities of the XINGU basin to coordinate their efforts to protect the forest and their interests through many programmes on Natural anf Genetic resources, training nof Indian leaders, Educational programmes to help the indigenous peoples to secure their rights and protect their autonomy, Health programmes through the "Schola Paulista de medecine" which undertook preventive actions to save lives by using Wester medical practices that complemented the traditional medecines of the Indian peoples. And finally, helping the Yanomami through emergency relief in one of their darkest period, when Gold miners invaded their territories and brought diseases and starvation. In 1995, Rainforest Foundation International spread its work beyond Brazil and started funding programmes in Latin America, Asia and Africa. After ten years of intense work and the satisfaction to see the emerging of an Indigenous leadership, a worldwide awareness of the plight of indigenous peoples, and on the catastrophic state of their forests, the board of Rainforest Foundation International took a forward looking decision based on what has always been the goal and priority of the Foundation : - To develop a self sustaining, vibrant organization that takes the work of our national organizations and our partners in the field forward in all the countries of the world where we work, aiming at giving them the long-term support they need to assert and defend their rights, fight against development programmes which have the most damaging effect on their environment, and carry out various projects promoting the governance and the economic development of their communities.
The important goal was to minimize the administration costs of our central structure and to maximize the financial output to the field. In 1999, Rainforest Foundation International was replaced by Rainforest Foundation FUND. It was created to guarantee the continuation of the projects of its partners, to expand to new partnerships and to respond to their needs by securing funding with the conviction that projects presented by indigenous communities are tailored to their needs and do not involve big sums of money. Its mission statement reads as follows: - The Rainforest F. FUND is a charitable foundation that fulfils its mission to protect and support Indigenous Peoples, and Traditional populations of the Rainforest in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfil their rights.
- Convinced that accepted environmental and human rights principles embody the right of everyone to a secure, healthy and ecologically sound environment, and that environmental degradation leads to human rights violations such as the right to life, health and culture.
The Rainforest F. FUND, bearing in mind the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights, carries out its mission by: - Funding programmes and projects aimed at supporting Indigenous Peoples and traditional populations of the rainforest to assert and defend their rights, to promote a sustainable development of their communities, and to challenge government practices which have a damaging effect on their environment.
Download 2006 / 2008 Rainforest Foundation Fund Report
Download 2006 Rainforest foundation Fund Federal tax information
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