Rainforest Partnership

“The CEO, Director of Operations, and designated team members review financial accounting inputs for expenses against revenue, such as donations and in-kind, before conducting a reconciliation and producing the final year-end reports used for the financial statements and thereafter Form 990. Information for the Form 990 is reviewed by the CEO, Director of Operations, and the Board Treasurer before being shared with the Board of Directors. Once all relevant parties have reviewed and provided feedback, the Form 990 is submitted to the IRS.”

“Any potential conflict of interest is required to be disclosed. All Board members and key team members receive the Conflict of Interest policy and submit Conflict of Interest forms, and are required to review the policy and resubmit the form annually.”

“The Board of Directors approves compensation after careful review. The process for determining compensation includes a review of comparability data followed by deliberation by the Board of Directors as part of the annual budget adoption. (The CEO does not vote on the budget adoption)”

“IRS Form 990 is also made available on GuideStar.”

“Governing documents, Conflict of Interest policy, and financial statements are available to members of the public visiting our office and upon request. Financial documents are also available on our website and GuideStar.”

“The $50,000 represents non-cash contributions included in Line 1g and is also included in the Gross Receipts amount on Form 990, Item G.”

“91 dedicated volunteers and interns in the US, Peru, and other parts of the world contributed 11,110 hours and pro bono services valued at $509,376, a significant contribution creating outsized impact in rainforest conservation.”

“[TROPICAL ANDES PROJECTS] - In the Amazonas region of Peru, Rainforest Partnership contributed to the Public Investment Project for the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and Andean Night Monkey, a policy tool which will help the populations of these two endangered primate species recover over the course of three years. RP also helped craft and present the Regional Action Plan for Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys in the Amazonas and the Regional Research Agenda of Amazonas to guide and inform future conservation actions in the region, which is home to over 425,000 people. Rainforest Partnership also implemented projects to strengthen community-based conservation and sustainable livelihoods in the community of Corosha. Community-based conservation includes monitoring and management of the Private Conservation Area (ACP) Hierba Buena Allpayacu and work on sustainable economic enterprises focused on ecotourism in the region and managing Melipona bees. Rainforest Partnership implemented a conservation education contest for World Rainforest Day for students of different levels in the community of Corosha. We also helped create the Education and Communication Strategy for the Colan Mosaic, which covers 360,000 hectares of land in Amazonas, and strengthened the organizational capacity and management of the Amazonas Network of Voluntary Conservation (RED AMA), a group of campesino (peasant) communities managing protected areas of forest, and of two communities, Corosha and Copallin. In the district of Pampa Hermosa in the Junin Region of Peru, we worked with women leaders to strengthen their capacity to act as tourism guides and advisors, produce souvenirs, and provide visitor service (through lodging and meals) in the San Antonio Annex of Pampa Hermosa. These skills will generate income for the women and the communities. We also advanced the base knowledge of biodiversity in San Antonio, researching amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals in the area. Our collaborative policy work strengthened the strategies, stakeholder involvement, and work in formalizing the creation of a Regional Conservation Area (ACR) in the Cloud Forests of Toldopampa. In the Ayacucho region of Peru, we supported the Regional Government of Ayacucho's training course: "Management of biodiversity through the evaluation, monitoring, and sustainable use of natural resources in the Ayacucho region" to advance capacity-building for environmental stewardship for a group of nearly 100 local and regional government officials and community leaders. The course expanded their capacities to carry out conservation and natural resource management in the region.”

“[PACIFIC TROPICAL FOREST PROJECTS] - In the Tumbes region of Peru, we organized a "Photoblitz" of the Amotape National Park and subsequent publication of a book in partnership with the Peruvian National Parks Service (SERNANP) to document the Park's biodiversity. RP formed an environmental evaluation committee in collaboration with the Regional Government of Tumbes, the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM), and Project CFI (Coastal Fisheries Initiative) and provided support for the publication of the regional ordinance on environment agenda. Finally, we collaborated on the construction of the Integrated Strategy of Tumbes to ensure long-term, effective conservation of the region. [ECUADORIAN AMAZON PROJECTS] - In 2020 RP's Ecuador Projects Team launched several creative projects as part of our partnership with the Sani Isla community to generate income during the pandemic and beyond. Rainforest Partnership worked alongside the community, their community owned and operated ecolodge (Sani Lodge), the women of Sani Isla, and the community's school to develop three initiatives, Adopt a Turtle, Sponsor a Tree, and Virtual Tours. These projects capitalized on the world's transition to the virtual sphere working with the community to access online communities, online giving, and online communications to build economic stability in the community during the crisis. After conducting a months-long Needs Assessment to cultivate a deep understanding of the current landscape for rainforest protection in Ecuador, our plans for on-the-ground work in the Ecuadorian Amazon and in high-altitude forested areas of Pichincha aim to fill gaps in the work currently being done in the region. This extensive research informs our 2021 plans to launch agroforestry and regenerative forestry programs with communities along the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon and in the province of Pichincha, near Quito. These projects will simultaneously protect and restore forests, address food insecurity and unsustainable food systems, and create economic support systems for women and for communities at large. [MAYA FOREST PROJECTS] - In 2020, Rainforest Partnership initiated our first partnership and project in Mexico, bringing our integrated approach and direct partnership model to the Mexican Caribbean and Mayan Forest Region. Along with our Mexican partner NGO Amigos de Sian Ka'an (ASK), this first project will focus on establishing Pez Maya, a biological station, as a hub for ecological research, conservation programs, ecotourism, and community building through environmental education. ASK has a similarly complex and socially conscious approach to conserving the many incredible ecosystems within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, which include the tropical forests, the best-preserved mangrove forests in Mesoamerica, coral reefs, underground rivers, dunes, and coastlands.”

“[EDUCATION AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS] - To further our commitment to building diverse partnerships and coalitions of rainforest partners, our Engagement Team is building an 8-week program to equip young professionals and students who are passionate about rainforest conservation with the skills necessary to enter the workforce. Each Fellow will choose one of two professional tracks - Public Relations & Marketing or Impact Assessment - wherein participants will work on real projects, write articles, conduct assessments, and build a portfolio of work that they can take with them into their future careers. Fellows will work with team leads from the Rainforest Partnership team on various projects while gaining real experience in the non-profit and conservation sector. The rainforest education course will be one of the requirements to graduate from the Morpho Fellowship. This will give Fellows a greater understanding of not only the importance of rainforest conservation and the biodiversity that rainforests hold, but why organizations like Rainforest Partnership are vital to the survival and success of these rainforests. Rainforest Partnership's Engagement Team plans to launch the program in 2021. Another new engagement initiative, Rainforest Champions, will build a powerful community of next generation philanthropists and givers eager to reclaim hope and renew our environmental future by building durable engagement with an ever expanding network of current and future Rainforest Partners. [ENTERPRISE] - Enterprise partnerships are the means by which we enhance the durability of rainforest protection through innovative, revenue generating, entrepreneurial collaboration with private sector partners that return value to all participants. 2020 was the foundational year to establish the fundamental goals, recruit and empower the in-house team, design and test key processes, and initiate the new and critical relationships to launch this powerful new line of action. All of this will come to first fruition in 2021 as we publicly roll out our early partnerships, and anticipate realizing first revenue in the latter half of this new year. [WORLD RAINFOREST DAY] - World Rainforest Day (WRD) 2020 educated, engaged, and energized people around the world to take action to protect the world's rainforests. Globally 29 million engaged through online and in-person rainforest-themed workshops, film screenings, meditations, and fundraisers through events convened by Rainforest Partnership and our collaborating partners and many others. We expanded our role as founder and leader of World Rainforest Day activities by organizing and guiding online actions that had thousands of real-time participants. In 2020, World Rainforest Day went virtual, a move which unlocked new and exciting avenues for global collaboration; we removed the limits that go along with a reliance on in-person events. We collapsed the limits of geography, time zones, and language barriers, and created opportunities for us and our partners to bring WRD content and actions to global audiences like never before. Because of this transition to the virtual world, World Rainforest Day had a 24-hour-presence and had the power to reach across and beyond borders, uniting global partners and global citizens behind the common goal of healthy forests, a balanced climate, and a just, sustainable planet. We evolved into a dynamic leader and collaborating partner and content producer. The RP Peru team hosted a series of panels, RP CEO Niyanta Spelman projected our mission and impact to the world through interviews and panels, and RP produced video content for WRD's video feed and video hub. We created the video hub as a resource for rainforest content, actions, and opportunities for partners and people around the world to learn, act, and make change to protect the world's rainforests. We created a second category and tier of partnership for groups who wanted to go beyond participation and amplification of”