Keeping our commitment: Update on our pledge for tenure rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples

Black letter "F" against a beige background.
  • Ford Foundation
Tuntiak Katan,a member of the Shuar people, General Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) speaking at the UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021. He is wearing a traditional head garment and a suit with traditional patterns draped across it.Getty

Today, the Ford Foundation is pleased to share the first annual update on our COP26 pledge to support the tenure rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs). From January 1, 2021, to June 29, 2022, we approved $68 million in funding to this initiative.

Our grants include direct support for the long-term resilience of IPLC organizations and movements around the world and funding for related efforts to strengthen tenure rights and governance. The work done by partners within this initial portfolio reinforces our belief that there is no viable solution to the climate crisis without increased forest and land management by IPLCs.

Though this work builds on years of collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and local communities across the globe, we scaled up our commitments last year at COP26 in Glasgow, joining five governments and 16 other philanthropies and funders to commit a collective $1.7 billion over five years to IPLC networks and organizations. As part of this historic pledge, we committed $100 million between 2021 and 2025, drawn from three sources: our social bond, which supports the stability and long-term resilience of social justice organizations in the wake of COVID-19; our Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) program, which offers five-year flexible funding and institutional strengthening support to these organizations; and our annual grantmaking budget for Natural Resources and Climate Change and other programs.

While we are excited about this progress, we also know there is more work to be done. For instance, the proportion of our pledge-aligned funding going directly to IPLC organizations and networks is considerably lower than we’d like, at just 17%—and this is lower than our partners would expect. To that end, as we continue to support other grantmaking organizations, funds, and nonprofit partners trusted by IPLC organizations in the future, we also intend to increase the proportion of our funding going directly to IPLCs—including by using funds from our extended BUILD program to provide five-year flexible support to IPLC organizations and networks.

In the meantime, we hope to help galvanize all funders to increase their support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. For our part, we plan to accelerate the transparent, accountable, and effective implementation of the IPLC pledge by taking several additional steps, including:

  • Posting annual updates on our website on progress made toward meeting our pledge commitment, including list of pledge-aligned grants
  • Joining other donors to support an assessment of existing funding pathways for reaching IPLCs and a process to engage with Indigenous Peoples to assess principles, standards, and mechanisms for supporting tenure rights and forest guardianship, and documenting their aspirations for the pledge
  • Creating dedicated internal discussion spaces within the Ford Foundation on land, territory, and autonomy and locally controlled funds, allowing us to share lessons among program team members across geographies, learn together with our partners, and be more coherent and effective in our grantmaking
  • Partnering with the Climate and Land Use Alliance, the Climate Leadership Initiative, and the Forests for Peoples and Climate Initiative to encourage new climate donors to include a focus on land and resource rights recognition and forest guardianship in their portfolios
  • Continuing discussions with IPLC partners about how we and other funders can be more responsive to their needs and aspirations

Grants (or portions thereof*) aligned with pledge criteria and approved during the period January 1, 2021 and June 29, 2022:

ActionAid USA
Afro-Colombian Pastoral Center Corporation
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations from Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca
Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente
Asociación Quisca
Association for the Development of the Honduran Mosquitia
Association Justice on the Tracks
Association of Forestry Communities of Peten
Filantropi Indonesia
Sherpa Association
Badan Pengelola Dana Lingkungan Hidup
Baudo Agencia Publica
Brazil Fund for Human Rights Foundation
Burness Communications
Canopée
Catitu Institute
Centro Ecuménico de Promoción y Acción Social Norte
Center for International Forestry Research
Center for Public Policies and Human Rights – Peru Equity
Center of Indigenous Cultures of Peru
Central American Women’s Fund Association
PUSHEP
Centro Amazónico de Antropología de Aplicación Práctica
Centro Bartolome De Las Casas
Centro para Democracia e Desenvolvimento
Instituto Escolhas

Climate and Land Use Alliance (including subgrants to Fundo Socioambiental CASA, Conexsus, Comissão Pastoral da Terra, Associação de Advogados de Trabalhadores Rurais no Estado da Bahia, Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, Environmental Bamboo Foundation, Peru EQUIDAD, Gaia Amazonas, Fondo Emerger, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental,Coordinator of Associations and Communities for the Comprehensive Development of the Ch’orti’ People (COMUNDICH), Popular Indigenous Regional Council of Xpujil (CRIPX), Regional Program of Research on Development and the Environment (PRISMA), Inter-American Foundation, Preventing Pandemics at the Source, Forest Peoples Programme, Rainforest Action Network, Bank Information Center, and others)

Collective Cultural Association
Columbia University/Earth Institute
Comunidad de Juristas Akubadaura
Consultative Group on Biological Diversity
Corporación Administrativa de formación y construcción de paz del Foro Interétnico Solidaridad Chocó
Corporación ILEX Acción Jurídica
Corporation Afro Colombian Agency Hileros
Dromómanos
EarthRights International, Inc.
Earthsight
Environment and Society Association
Environmental Action Germany
Fern
Forest Peoples Programme
Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean

Fundación Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz
Fundación Propaz
Geoindígena
Global Greengrants Fund
Group for the Analysis of Development
Grupo de Trabajo Socioambiental de la Amazonía, Wataniba
Health in Harmony
Human Impacts Institute
Amazon Institute of Planning, Urban and Environmental Management
ICESI University
Indian Law Resource Center
Indigenous Council of Roraima
Institute Democracy and Sustainability
Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural Maya, A.C
International Union for Conservation of Nature
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
Instituto Socioambiental
Justica Ambiental
La Sandía Digital Laboratory of Audiovisual Culture A.C.
La Silla Vacía
Land is Life
Land Portal Foundation
Law, Environment and Natural Resources
Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia
London Mining Network
Malungu/Pará – Coordination for the Association or Remnant Quilombo Communities of Pará
Mining Dialogue Group for Colombia
Mongabay
National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru
New York Botanical Garden
Oil Change International
Organización para el Desarrollo Social y Productivo de los Pueblos Indígenas y Comunidades Afrodescendientes
Oxfam America
Penabulu Foundation
PENÍNSULA
Perkumpulan Huma Indonesia
Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad
Perkumpulan Untuk Peningkatan Usaha Kecil
Purpose Campaigns
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Foundation US / Global Alliance of Territorial Communities
Rainforest Foundation Norway
REIL
Repórter Brazil
Rights and Resources Institute
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors/ Energy Transition Fund
Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
Strategic Youth Network for Development
The Bank Information Center
The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility
TINTA – The Invisible Thread
United Association of Indonesian Women
Vitória Amazônica Foundation
World Resources Institute
Yale Environment 360
Yayasan BERSAHAJA
Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan
Yayasan PIKUL
Yayasan TIFA

*In cases where funding to an organization also supports activities beyond those outlined in the pledge criteria, we have only counted a portion of the grant amount toward the $68 million reported here.