The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility

What The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility does

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility is an independent Swedish foundation (Internationella Insamlingsstiftelsen för Mark och Skogsrätter) headquartered in Stockholm, founded in 2017. It is a non-profit grant-making organization that channels philanthropic capital and technical assistance to Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local community organizations to secure formal recognition of their land and forest tenure rights. The foundation operates across more than 15 countries spanning Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and works within the frameworks of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), ILO Convention 169, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

The Facility's core offerings include direct grant disbursement to vetted community organizations, technical assistance for tenure mapping and policy advocacy, and capacity-building programs such as the FIRE (Fire Initiative for Restoration and Education) training. It supports geospatial mapping tools including SIG Indígena and ForestLink to document and validate customary land claims. Reported outcomes include 4.6 million hectares of land formally recognized across its portfolio in 2024 and a 2.18 million hectare Kaxuyana-Tunayana Indigenous Land recognized at COP30 in 2025.

The business model is philanthropy-funded grant-making, not commercial revenue generation. Capital is sourced from a small set of institutional donors including Norad, the UK's FCDO, the Bezos Earth Fund, the Ford Foundation, and TED's Audacious Project. The Facility aggregates donor commitments and re-deploys them as restricted and unrestricted grants to vetted grantees, retaining an operations overhead of 11–50 staff to manage due diligence, monitoring, and partner capacity-building.

Name

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility

Legal name

Internationella Insamlingsstiftelsen för Mark och Skogsrättigheter

Website

https://thetenurefacility.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility is an independent Swedish foundation that provides grants and technical assistance to Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities, and local organizations to secure land and forest tenure rights across 15+ countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Land Rights Grant-making and Technical Assistance

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

SIC

Forestry (800), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Forestry & Indigenous Land Stewardship Services (IMAMAJAM), Conservation, Restoration & Biodiversity Services (Habitat, Wetlands, Riparian) (IMAMAJAH)

Keywords

• Land tenure grants
• Indigenous rights funding
• Forest protection grants
• Community land rights
• Climate finance intermediation

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Grants distributed to partner organizations and community funds, Personnel, Operations (including field accompaniment, convenings, and learning exchanges), Marketing or Sales (communications, media, donor stewardship), Others (monitoring, evaluation and learning)

Revenue model

1. Grant funding from institutional donors: Tenure Facility receives funding from institutional donors including Norad, FCDO, Bezos Earth Fund, Ford Foundation, and TED's Audacious Project. These funds are then distributed as grants and technical assistance to vetted Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local community organizations working on land tenure security and forest protection.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Tenure Facility provides multi-year grants and technical assistance to vetted Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community organizations to advance legal recognition of community land and forest tenure, strengthen territorial governance, and facilitate direct access to climate finance. It also runs capacity-building programs (including FIRE financial management training) and convenes learning exchanges across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Product overview

The Tenure Facility is not a technology product company. It is an international grant-making organization that provides financial resources and technical assistance directly to Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities to support their struggle for land reform, secure tenure, climate mitigation, conflict reduction, and gender equality. The organization connects donor funds to vetted partner organizations, facilitates learning exchanges, publishes resources, and supports project implementation across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. No software products, platforms, modules, or technology offerings exist.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tenure-rights grants programme Multi-year grants provided directly to vetted Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community organizations (and their supporting NGOs) to secure legal recognition of community land and forest tenure, strengthen territorial governance, and access climate finance across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
• FIRE financial management training (with Spring Strategies) FIRE (Finance, Integrity, Resilience, Empowerment) training programme delivered with Spring Strategies since 2022 to build financial resilience, integrity, and management capability among partner organizations worldwide.
• Learning Exchanges programme International and regional learning exchanges convening partner organizations (e.g., Asia Learning Exchange in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia; Global Learning Exchange) to share practices, lessons, and innovations in community land tenure and forest governance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.6 million hectares formally recognized in 2024
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Spring StrategiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Organization supporting social-change groups to develop financial resilience. Tenure Facility sponsors FIRE (Finance, Integrity, Resilience, Empowerment) training with partners worldwide since 2022.
• Synchronicity EarthmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Co-hosting the Rights and Nature Hub at London Climate Action Week, bringing together voices from rights, nature and climate movements to advance solutions for biodiversity and community governance.
• Forests, People, Climate (FPC)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Co-host of Rights and Nature Hub at London Climate Action Week, partnering on events and dialogue sessions around climate, biodiversity, and community governance.
• Jacobs Futura FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Co-host of Rights and Nature Hub, partnering to convene leaders and organizations around the world to increase finance, power, and rights for protection of all life on Earth.
• Podáali FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe first Indigenous-led fund covering the Brazilian Amazon, established in 2020. Tenure Facility supports this community-managed territorial fund through grants and technical accompaniment for Indigenous grantmaking.
• Babassu FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFund coordinated by Inter-State Movement of Babassu Coconut Breakers, supporting Afro-Brazilian communities in Pará to defend ancestral lands. Tenure Facility provides partial support including through Amazon Fund.
• Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIndigenous organization coordinating Podáali Fund and representing Indigenous Peoples in Brazilian Amazon. Toya Manchineri, coordinator, participates in pre-COP events supported by Tenure Facility.
• National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (FUNAI)majorOthersBrazilian government agency holding formal responsibility for Indigenous land demarcation. Tenure Facility-supported initiatives coordinate with FUNAI on demarcation processes.
• RENAPAC (National Network of Indigenous Peoples of Congo)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTenure Facility partner developing a proposed initiative to strengthen collective tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities across six departments of Republic of Congo (Sangha, Likouala, Lékoumou, Niari, Pool, Plateaux).
• Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB)minorOthersIndustrial logging company and subsidiary of Olam Agri operating in northern Republic of Congo. Communities interact with CIB regarding benefit-sharing and consultation frameworks.
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)minorOthersConservation organization managing Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Republic of Congo. Communities in Bomassa live adjacent to WCS-managed reserve, seeking greater inclusion in governance decisions.
• VasundharacoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTenure Facility partner in India supporting community land rights work, particularly in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district where Kalika Prasad village demonstrates conservation through community stewardship.
• Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner organization representing Maya Q'eqchi' and Mopan communities in Belize, working with JCS and TAA to implement the 2015 CCJ Consent Order on land rights.
• Caribbean Community Climate Change CentremajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGCF-accredited entity accompanying Maya-led climate proposal development. Working through this partnership while retaining Maya leadership on the US$40 million climate resilience proposal.
• Indian School of Business / Bharti Institute of Public PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term Tenure Facility partner developing women-owned forest enterprises like Sona Buru Jungle Producer Company. Supports research on tenure security in forest-based supply chains in India.
• Green Foundation NepalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTenure Facility partner supporting Tulsi Food Industry cooperative run by women entrepreneurs in Dang district, Nepal. Supports community forest rights work.
• Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOrganization supporting communities to document territories and turn local knowledge into spatial data supporting formal land recognition processes in Indonesia.
• Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerColombian government agency responsible for official maps and basic cartography. Partnership with CNTI to develop and maintain SIG Indígena, validating Indigenous geographic data alongside government data.
• Global Alliance of Territorial CommunitiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnected to Shandia Platform and initiatives like Nusantara Fund (Indonesia), Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund, and Mesoamerican Territorial Fund. Collectively redefining how climate finance flows to communities.
• Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupports implementation of Belém Call to Action for Congo Basin Forests. Panellists included members discussing the US$2.5 billion pledge to conserve forests.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bezos Earth Fund: A $10B philanthropic vehicle funding climate and nature solutions, including Tenure Facility. Larger incumbent funder with a broader climate and biodiversity mandate that overlaps with but extends well beyond community land tenure.
• Ford Foundation: A major philanthropic institution funding land rights and social justice work globally, including Tenure Facility itself. Operates as a broader incumbent funder with a much wider portfolio spanning inequality, civil rights, and governance.
• Climate Investment Funds (CIF): A multilateral climate finance channel operating large-scale programs in forest and land-use sectors. Represents an adjacent incumbent funder that increasingly overlaps with Tenure Facility's constituency as climate finance flows to Indigenous communities expand.

Direct peers

• Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI): A global coalition focused on securing land and forest rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Directly comparable mission to Tenure Facility, with overlapping geographic footprint and a similar advocacy-plus-grant-making approach.
• Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF): A global grant-making facility that funds civil society to protect biodiversity hotspots. Operates an analogous intermediary-grant-maker model, channeling donor capital to vetted local organizations for conservation outcomes.
• Landesa: A global land rights organization that works with governments and partners to secure land tenure, particularly for rural and Indigenous communities. Comparable scope and community-led grant-making/technical assistance model.
• Amazon Conservation Team: A nonprofit partnering with Indigenous and local communities to protect Amazonian forests, including through mapping and land titling. Directly comparable Indigenous-led conservation approach across overlapping Amazon geographies.
• Samdhana Institute: A grant-making foundation supporting Indigenous and local communities across Southeast Asia for natural resource management and tenure. Closely comparable grant-making model and Indigenous community focus.
• Forest Peoples Programme: An international NGO supporting Indigenous forest peoples' rights to their lands and livelihoods. Closely comparable mission and constituency, with overlapping geographic work in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and similar technical/legal assistance offerings.

Emerging players

• Synchronicity Earth: A UK-based philanthropic organization funding locally-led conservation in underfunded regions. Co-hosted the Rights and Nature Hub with Tenure Facility at London Climate Action Week, indicating closely aligned mission and emerging collaboration in the community-rights conservation space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/showcase/6981581
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thetenurefacility

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility