CEO Note: Billions for Rainforests!
Yesterday, in Belém, was a moment whose time has – finally – come. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility launched with an initial $5 billion, which will reward countries and Indigenous communities for success in protecting forests. Among those stepping up were Brazil ($1 billion), Indonesia ($1 billion) and Norway ($3 billion!!), as well as Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation and others.
This fund promises to finally make nature worth more alive than dead. That goal is one many of us have been working towards for, and it’s exciting to see it becoming reality with hard cash. This initial commitment is just the start: we need to get it to scale with campaigns to secure more finance from governments and the private sector. The ultimate goal is to get $125 billion into the fund, which would generate an estimated annual $4 billion in funding for rainforests – probably tripling the funding available for conservation.
Huge thank you to the governments, funders and non-profit organizations like Campaign for Nature, Wildlife Conservation Society, and so many others that have put the hard work in to make this first big step a reality. If we can reach the financial goal, this will be seen as a decisive moment for Nature around the world.
Whoa, even more funding for nature and Indigenous communities!
Four governments and a huge alliance of foundations also committed $1.8 billion to support Indigenous and local efforts to protect their lands through the Forest and Land Tenure Pledge. Key supporters included the Arcus Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore, re:Wild, Bezos Earth Fund, and a whole range of others. With studies showing that in many places Indigenous communities are the best defenders of Nature, this is good news.
All this money may sound like a lot, and it’s so needed – but we should put it in perspective. The announcements represent funding over five or more years; and much of the money is continuation of existing programs – which of course doesn’t diminish its importance: that continued funding is the thin green line that is allowing nature’s defenders to do their heroic work.
Compare this funding we’re celebrating to the $1.5 trillion of investment in AI infrastructure just this year. Say what you will about AI, Nature gives us life. Even within the underfunded climate field, nature just receives less than 3% of total climate finance, even though it represents 37% of the solution to climate change.
Nothwithstanding all the buts, the fact that there are donors out there who still see Nature as worth saving – even if it’s become terribly unfashionable to do so – gives hope for our fellow creatures and our survival.
Other, other good news for Nature: Indonesia to accelerate recognition of Indigenous rights
The Government of Indonesia, one of the biggest rainforest countries on Earth, has committed to quadruple recognition of Indigenous lands up to 1.4 million hectares of customary forests, a big boost from the 0.35 million hectares issued since 2015.
Indigenous people in Indonesia face serious challenges, as recognized by a recent UN report, so this initiative could not come a moment too soon. The Indigenous federation Aman has supported a project that has recognized 23 million hectares, so there’s more to do. But it’s a needed step forward.
The announcement took place at the Prince of Wales United for Wildlife summit. Indonesia’s Climate Envoy Pak Hashim Djojohadikusumo and Minister Raja Juli Antoni were joined by some champions of wildlife including the great Zac Goldsmith and Wes Sechrest of re:Wild. It is the latest evidence of the Prabowo administration’s willingness to protect nature and people, following efforts to restore Tesso Nillo National Park; revoke polluting nickel licenses in Raja Ampat, and efforts to accelerate decarbonization.
This progress gives us hope that the administration will also address the biggest threat to nature in Indonesia by re-channelling the Food and Energy Estates onto the country’s plentiful degraded lands.
These announcements offer a promising start to the Belém Climate Summit, and I hope to hear of further concrete progress from governments and industry in the weeks ahead.
Mighty Earth is hosting some fascinating events at the summit, and we’d love to welcome you. Please come find us – or send me an email if you’re interested in setting up a meeting.
—
© 2025. The text of this article is openly licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-ND 4.0); you are free to copy and redistribute or republish the article in its entirety with attribution and credit.
