What Rainforest Foundation US does

Rainforest Foundation US is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1988 in Brooklyn, New York, that supports Indigenous communities in Central and South America to secure land rights, monitor and protect rainforests, and access climate finance. The organization partners with 200+ Indigenous and local communities across Brazil, Peru, Guyana, Ecuador, Panama, and Central America, working through federated structures such as AIDESEP (Peru, 1,809 communities), CIR (Brazil), APA (Guyana), COICA, APIB, AMPB, and by serving as fiscal sponsor to the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities. Programs are organized around four pillars — Land Rights, Territorial Monitoring and Protection, Institutional Strengthening, and Policy — supported by fire prevention and response work and direct financing of Indigenous-led organizations ($10.5M in 2025).

The core technological platform is the Rainforest Alert system, which combines satellite-based anomaly detection (via Global Forest Watch) with community-based ground verification. Trained Indigenous forest patrollers are equipped with smartphones, drones, GPS, and GIS tools; satellite alerts are stored on memory cards for off-grid delivery; and field investigators document evidence of deforestation that is then presented to community assemblies. A peer-reviewed study in the Peruvian Amazon documented a 52% reduction in forest loss in the program's first year. Cumulative impact includes 43 million acres of land rights secured since 1988, 19.3 million acres under active monitoring, and 12.6 million acres of land rights advanced in 2025 alone.

The organization's business model is donation-funded rather than product-priced. Revenue is drawn from individual donations (including the recurring Treehouse monthly giving program at $50/month to protect 300 acres annually, plus DAFs, crypto, stock, IRA QCDs, and legacy giving), institutional and government grants (DANIDA, UK International Development, Darwin Initiative), and corporate partnerships (1% For The Planet, Project Wren, Sol de Janeiro Foundation, employer matching). FY2024 reported total expenses of $9.82M, of which 80% was directed to programs ($7.88M), 12% to fundraising ($1.13M), and 8% to administration ($0.81M). The go-to-market motion is community-led: RFUS works alongside Indigenous organizations at the grassroots level, providing tools, training, resources, and direct financing while centering Indigenous leadership in program design.

Name

Rainforest Foundation US

Legal name

Rainforest Foundation US

Website

https://rainforestfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rainforest Foundation US is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1988 and headquartered in Brooklyn, that partners with 200+ Indigenous communities across Central and South America to secure land rights, monitor rainforests via satellite and ground technology, and channel donor and institutional funding for forest protection.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Forestry (800), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Forestry & Indigenous Land Stewardship Services (IMAMAJAM), Forest Carbon Projects & Ecosystem Services (Carbon Credits, Biodiversity) (IMAMAAAJ), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Rainforest conservation
• Indigenous land rights
• Deforestation monitoring
• Environmental nonprofit
• Community-based conservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations from individual supporters via online platform, monthly Treehouse program, cryptocurrency, stock donations, IRA charitable distributions, and legacy/bequest giving.
2. Institutional Grants: Funding from institutional supporters and government grants including DANIDA, UK International Development, and other foundation partners.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate donations, cause marketing, sponsorship, and 1% For The Planet membership program where businesses donate a portion of profits.
4. Donor-Advised Funds: Donations through DAFs where donors recommend recurring or one-time gifts to RFUS.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Rainforest Foundation US is a nonprofit organization that partners with Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin and Central America to protect rainforests. It delivers land rights recognition, satellite-and-community-based deforestation monitoring (Rainforest Alert), and institutional capacity-building support for Indigenous organizations. Programs provide tools, training, technology, and direct financing to communities across Peru, Brazil, Guyana, and Central America.

Product overview

Rainforest Foundation US operates as a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of conservation programs rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings center on three interconnected programmatic pillars: (1) Land Rights Program for securing Indigenous land titles through legal, technical, and advocacy support; (2) Rainforest Alert technology platform for satellite-based deforestation monitoring combined with community-based investigations; and (3) Institutional Strengthening to build partner organizations' governance and operational capacity. Additional offerings include a Policy Program for advocacy, Fire Prevention and Response for climate resilience, Treehouse monthly donor program, Kids' Corner educational resources, and a publicly accessible Resource Hub of publications. The organization does not offer a commercial software platform but provides tools, training, and technology access directly to Indigenous partner communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Treehouse: Monthly giving program where donors join as recurring supporters of rainforest protection

Products and services

• Rainforest Alert Technology-based rainforest protection program combining satellite imagery with community-based investigations to detect and respond to deforestation. The system achieved a 52% reduction in forest loss in the first year of implementation, with alerts delivered to Indigenous forest patrollers who document and present evidence to community assemblies.
• Land Rights Program Supports Indigenous peoples in securing legal recognition of their lands through community-based participatory mapping, legal advocacy, and international court cases. Has helped secure rights to 43 million acres of forests and lands since 1988.
• Territorial Monitoring and Protection Provides Indigenous communities with technology (smartphones, drones, GPS, GIS) and training to map, monitor, and protect their territories against threats like deforestation, mining, and land grabbing.
• Institutional Strengthening Enhances governance, communications, administrative, and financial capacities of partner Indigenous organizations through direct financing, training programs, and organizational development support.
• Policy Program Shapes forest policy at local, national, and international levels by supporting partners to advocate for their rights and influence climate finance and carbon market policies.
• Treehouse Monthly Giving Program Monthly donor engagement program where recurring supporters receive quarterly newsletters, annual virtual event invitations, and thank you gifts on two-year anniversaries.
• Resource Hub Digital repository of reports, analyses, multimedia content, and publications on forest and rights policy issues across multiple geographies and topics including carbon markets and land tenure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 52% reduction in forest loss in first year of Rainforest Alert program (peer-reviewed study in Peruvian Amazon)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolitical platform of Indigenous and local communities from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. RFUS serves as fiscal sponsor and key partner. Represents forest peoples in 24 countries protecting 958 million hectares of tropical forests.
• COICA (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLargest representative organization of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. Made up of elected national federations in all nine Amazon nations. RFUS collaborates with national federations and regional initiatives like the Amazon Emergency Fund.
• APIB (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, representing all RFUS local and regional partners. Founded 2005, largest Indigenous federation in Brazil. RFUS partners on global advocacy as part of Global Alliance of Territorial Communities.
• AMPB (Alianza Mesoamericana de Pueblos y Bosques)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional organization promoting rights of forest-dwelling Indigenous peoples and local communities in Central America. RFUS has trained community-based territorial monitors and mappers, supported regional and international advocacy. Member of GATC.
• AIDESEP (Peru)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Forest. Represents 109 federations, 1,809 communities, and 650,000+ Indigenous people in 19 linguistic families. Primary partner for land titling and Rainforest Alert monitoring in Peru.
• Amerindian Peoples Association (APA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading Indigenous organization in Guyana with active members in 60+ villages. RFUS partners on land rights advocacy, expanded titling, national policy change, and governance strengthening. Joint initiative on land tenure assessments since 2015.
• CIR (Conselho Indígena de Roraima)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain representative Indigenous organization in northern Brazilian Amazon. 20-year partnership providing legal, financial, and strategic support for demarcation of Raposa Serra do Sol and human rights advocacy.
• COONAPIP (Panama)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples in Panama, founded 1999. Leads fight for Indigenous land rights, respect for Indigenous culture, and other priorities.
• South Rupununi District Council (SRDC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresentative body of elected Chiefs of 21 Wapichan communities in southern Guyana. RFUS supports acquisition of collective title to protect headwaters of major rivers and address mining threats.
• Sarayaku (Ecuador)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous Sarayaku community known for resistance to oil extraction. RFUS supports territorial defense and sustainable management initiatives.
• AMAN (Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Indonesian Archipelago. Largest Indigenous peoples' organization in the world with millions of members. Member of Global Alliance of Territorial Communities. RFUS supporting emergency fundraising.
• REPALEACmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of Indigenous and Local Populations for Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa. Part of GATC, spanning eight Central African countries.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Global conservation giant working on forest protection, species, and climate. Overlaps with RFUS on Amazon and Central American rainforest programs but operates at vastly greater scale across many species and ecosystem programs.
• Conservation International: Large, established environmental NGO with a much broader geographic and thematic portfolio (oceans, climate, policy, biodiversity). Engages on Indigenous partnerships and tropical forests but does not specialize exclusively in Indigenous-led rainforest protection.
• The Nature Conservancy: Major US-based conservation organization with global forest, climate, and land programs. Comparable donor profile and tropical forest work, but broader portfolio and more science-driven, less Indigenous-centered than RFUS.

Direct peers

• Amazon Watch: US-based nonprofit working to protect the Amazon rainforest and advance Indigenous rights in the same geographies as RFUS (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador). Comparable advocacy-and-grassroots model with similar donor base.
• Rainforest Foundation Norway: Sister organization in the Rainforest Foundation family, also focused on Indigenous-led rainforest protection, primarily across tropical forest regions outside the Americas. Operates as a separate legal entity with shared mission and brand lineage.
• Rainforest Trust: Conservation nonprofit identified as a current financial partner of RFUS. Focuses on purchasing and protecting rainforest acres through partner NGOs; overlaps with RFUS in tropical-forest protection mission and donor pool.
• Forest Peoples Programme: International NGO supporting Indigenous forest peoples' rights and sustainable forest management globally. Highly comparable rights-based, Indigenous-led operational model, though based in the UK and operating across more geographies.
• Rainforest Foundation UK: Third sister organization in the Rainforest Foundation network, focused on supporting Indigenous and community forest stewardship globally. Same mission and operational model as RFUS, distinct geography and donor base.

Emerging players

• Global Witness: Investigative and advocacy NGO exposing environmental and human rights abuses in forest and extractive sectors. Comparable activist orientation and overlapping donor base, but uses investigation/litigation rather than direct community financing.
• Cultural Survival: Indigenous-led nonprofit supporting Indigenous peoples' rights globally with related advocacy and capacity-building programs. Overlaps with RFUS in Indigenous rights and land tenure themes across Latin America.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rainforestus
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9rUHT4FkKXfNSeVmpr2zYw
• Facebookfacebook.com/RainforestUS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rainforestus
• Instagraminstagram.com/rainforestus

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rainforest Foundation US