Rainforest Partnership

“The CEO, Chief Business Officer, and designated team members review financial accounting inputs for expenses and 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, Chief Business Officer, 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 as per Rainforest Partnership's Bylaws)”

“IRS Form 990 is also made available on Candid (formally GuideStar).”

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

“It took a team of 7 board members and 11 advisors, a funded team that included 13 globally distributed members and 23 in-country team members, along with 47 dedicated volunteers and interns based all over the world that contributed almost 6,200 hours totaling to $327,000 worth of in-kind services, helping us create outsized impact in rainforest conservation.”

“[PERUVIAN TROPICAL ANDES] In 2022, we deepened the scientific knowledge about critical and highly threatened Tropical Andes landscapes through exciting scientific research and species discoveries; convened and mobilized diverse local stakeholders to plan and implement joint actions for long-term conservation of the Cordillera de Colán; led the transformation of economic practices causing deforestation and biodiversity loss to sustainable economic livelihoods for local people; implemented reforestation of degraded land with over 100 local people; and led environmental education programming across the Cordillera de Colán. These actions are long-term strategies woven together to ensure the long-term conservation of this incredibly biodiverse, important, and threatened landscape. Some of our major achievements include: (1) During several research expeditions, our team discovered and described four new species of lizards in the unique cloud forests of the Yungas Ecoregion, one of the most threatened ecoregions in the world, and two new species of marsupial frogs. Biodiversity research is foundational to successful conservation. (2) We advanced the taxonomic study of six other new species (four frogs and two lizards) that will be submitted to scientific journals soon to be formally published, and worked with museums to review the new species discovered in Cordillera de Colán during our expedition in 2021. (3) We established and convened a core group of local stakeholders that will collaborate to lead and implement initiatives to strengthen the conservation of the Cordillera de Colán, its mosaic of conservation areas, and the over 900,000 acres of the Tropical Andes it encompasses. This group of stakeholders includes the managers of six conservation areas and over 50 people who are key to the management of the cloud forests and grassland ecosystems in this landscape. In 2022, we convened this group to create joint plans for long-term collaborative actions for reforestation, biodiversity and landscape monitoring, research, environmental education, and strengthened governance within the Cordillera de Colán. (4) We led three field schools for local producers living around protected areas which trained over 50 local people and gave technical assistance to over 100 coffee, cacao, sugarcane, and cattle farmers to transform unsustainable agriculture and livestock practices to agroforestry, silvopastoral, organic and zero-deforestation sustainable production in the Cordillera de Colán. (5) We coordinated reforestation of degraded coffee, cocoa, and pasture land with native fruit trees: seven nurseries were installed around the protected areas, producing over 20,000 screw, alder, cedar and citrus seedlings and delivered to more than 100 farmers participating in the field schools and capacity-building programs. (7) We developed environmental education programming with 95 educators and education specialists from the Amazonas Regional Government, which was implemented in seven schools and taught over 130 students across the landscape about their environment and the importance of protecting it. [ECUADOR] Our Ecuador Strategy centers community, partnership, indigenous leadership and empowerment, and economic opportunity as critical tools to protect Ecuador's critically important tropical forests and vast biodiversity. The strategy includes: (1) Protecting extremely threatened areas of the Ecuadorian Chocó-Andino by creating protected areas and management plans with government partners; (2) Building economic independence with indigenous communities by creating sustainable income sources so they have the resources and resilience to resist pressures from extractive industries and prevent deforestation, contamination, and harm to community land, health, and livelihoods; (3) Supporting communities' access to key resources and training to strengthen their capacities to conserve their forests and biodiversity, restore degraded forest, and protect their l”

“[GEN Z FOR THE TREES] Gen Z for the Trees (Z4T) is a global youth-led movement to educate, inspire, and empower young climate and rainforest advocates. Z4T is a youth-driven initiative focused on a) holding corporations and governments accountable to their deforestation reduction pledges and b) targeting and reducing global drivers of deforestation. They work to understand forest-risk commodities and call for change in land use, food systems, finance, and policy to achieve the bold vision of net zero deforestation by 2030. Z4T teams specialize in the major drivers of deforestation- beef/cattle, soya, and palm oil- while targeting downstream actors in commodity supply chains and urging them to respond to consumer demand for sustainability. They also produce educational content for Gen Z about the importance of tropical rainforests, the impacts of deforestation, and the critical need for rainforest protection. Gen Z for the Trees collaborates with corporations, governments, multi-stakeholder coalitions, and universities to transform supply chains and policies affecting forests. Z4T empowers youth to lead the way, helping bridge gaps in knowledge and foster transparency. [FILMS FOR THE FOREST] Films for the Forest (F3) is an annual juried short film collection that uses the power of creative storytelling through the medium of film to convene, empower, and activate global audiences to take action on behalf of the world's forests. Launched by Rainforest Partnership in 2010, Films for the Forest invites filmmakers from around the world to share the voices and stories of forests worldwide, highlighting their rich biodiversity and diverse communities, their immense beauty and importance to the entire planet, the threats they face, and the opportunities for renewal. A fantastic panel of judges selected this year's winner; our 2022 judges included: five-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater, Welsh actor, singer, and activist Iwan Rheon (for the second year in a row), Colombian filmmaker Juan Sebastian Mesa, director of Los Nadie (winner of the Audience Award at the 31st Settimana Internazionale della Critica de Venezia), Ecuadorian filmmaker Frida Muenala, director and writer from the Kichwa community, and British activist and youth speaker Lucy Houliston. This year our judges selected ten films which were screened on World Rainforest Day, June 22nd, across three time zones for audiences around the world. We also hosted a screening in Tokyo with a team of 34 volunteers, bringing F3's films to a new audience in an active and growing conservation and sustainability community in Japan. The unique, first-time event was held on October 29th at 100BANCH, a creative multi-use space, with proceeds benefiting Rainforest Partnership's mission to protect tropical rainforests. The screening featured ten short films from the 2020 and 2022 Films for the Forest juried short film competition and presented an opportunity for a new audience to learn about the challenges faced by forests, their biodiversity, and the indigenous communities who call them home.”

“[WORLD RAINFOREST DAY] June 22nd marked the second-ever World Rainforest Day Global Summit-an annual event that convenes an ever-growing community and sparks new ideas and collaborative action to ensure that rainforests and the communities living in and protecting them thrive. Since Rainforest Partnership founded World Rainforest Day in 2017, June 22nd has been an international day of celebration. The World Rainforest Day mission recognizes the power of standing, healthy rainforests in mitigating climate change and creates a global movement to protect and restore them. Filled from start to finish with inspiring, impact-driven sessions focused on implementing solutions to achieve our collective goal of ending deforestation by 2030, it was the biggest and most impactful World Rainforest Day yet. With 60 organizations bringing their experiences and resources to the table, there was no shortage of perspective or representation. Over the course of the day, industry experts and frontline guardians unpacked deforestation solutions from every angle, from youth action to innovative tech to storytelling. We were honored to be joined by Shinae Gualinga, youth leader from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, and Steven Donziger, key lawyer on the team that won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron on behalf of Ecuadorian communities. As renowned advocates for indigenous rights and climate action, they joined in conversation with Rainforest Partnership founder and CEO Niyanta Spelman to share their experiences, deep knowledge, and insights on the future of forest protection. [RAINFOREST COLLECTIVE] Rainforest Collective is convened and led by Rainforest Partnership's CEO, Niyanta Spelman. The core team comprises Niyanta and four other heads of respected and experienced environmental organizations. Its mission is to spark exponential growth for high-impact, indigenous and local-led rainforest conservation efforts on unprecedented scales by facilitating global collaboration. To accelerate high impact conservation work on the ground, Rainforest Collective will create an instrument that channels funding directly to community-based, direct work that uplifts indigenous peoples and prioritizes impact that lasts over time. This instrument will upend the current inefficient and siloed funding landscape for forest conservation to leverage funding as efficiently as possible and exponentially maximize impact for forests and climate. By advocating collectively as one diverse, global, united voice, Rainforest Collective will also target global socioeconomic drivers of deforestation which incentivize, reward, and perpetuate deforestation worldwide.”

“Total liabilities include EIDL loans and other loans that allowed Rainforest Partnership to continue it's mission to protect and regenerate tropical rainforests.”