| What we do |
The Forest Peoples Project's long-term goal is improved social, economic and environmental conditions for indigenous and tribal forest peoples. We are working towards this goal by helping forest peoples defend their rights, develop sustainable livelihood skills, engage with policy makers and strengthen their organisational capacity. Closely linked to this is our work to influence the forest debate so that forests are protected for sustainable use by people with secure rights. Our work therefore adopts a rights-based approach with strong advocacy and capacity building components. We have projects in Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, as well as Central Siberia and South America: Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.
Capacity
building
We provide information, training, fund-raising assistance,
technical support and policy advice to help forest peoples strengthen their organisations,
manage their resources and develop their communities.
Sustainable
development for the long-term relief of poverty
We support local communities
to gain secure tenure over their lands and natural resources, generate incomes
from farming, crafts and other activities, and increase their access to education,
health care and adequate housing.
We help forest peoples' organisations carry out consultations with their communities to document their concerns and perspectives, and work with them to build alliances providing broad-based support for their advocacy work. We provide forest peoples with information, training and advice to strengthen their voice in pressing government and donors to make policies that protect forest peoples' rights and address their critical needs and priorities.
Conservation
We support forest peoples to carry out face-to-face advocacy with conservation
agencies to recognise forest peoples' land rights and involve them in conservation
management. Using modern GPS mapping methods, we train forest peoples to demarcate
their territories and document their use of natural resources, and use the information
to develop natural resource management plans.
Human
rights
We provide training in human rights and national and international
laws affecting forest peoples. We support our partners to advocate for increased
protection of their rights by government, donors and policy makers, and to publicise
violations of human rights.
Documentation
Forest Peoples Project Annual Reports (pdf ): 2001,
2002,
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006
Forest Peoples Project reports,
briefings and publications are posted in the 'Forest Peoples Programme'
section of our site.
