of the Critically Endangered African Forest Elephant . Habitat loss coupled with poaching for the international ivory trade has already reduced the elephant ’ s population by 60 %. In 2023 , Rainforest Trust began working with its partners Rainforest Foundation Norway and GASHE ( Groupe d ’ Action Pour Sauver L ’ Homme Et Son Environnement ) to support the designation of over 1 million acres of these peatlands as Community Forests and legally secure the rights of local communities to use the forests . Industrial activities that threaten the region will be strictly forbidden , including slash-and-burn agriculture , charcoal-making for fuel in urban areas , large-scale logging , and future oil and gas exploration .
Communities
Indigenous Peoples steward threequarters of the world ’ s remaining biodiversity . Rainforest Trust ’ s highimpact conservation strategy prioritizes supporting partners who work directly with Indigenous and local communities to help them secure legal ownership and continue sustainable management of their ancestral lands . In Peru , donated support has enabled Rainforest Trust to successfully partner with Centro para el Desarrollo del Indígena Amazónico ( CEDIA ) for nearly 25 years , encouraging their work with Indigenous communities that to date has legally designated more than 19.3 million acres of Peruvian Amazon rainforest as Indigenous owned and managed .
In 2023 , Rainforest Trust and CEDIA launched a final push to stop land-grabbing on 3.8 million acres of undesignated Indigenous territories for logging , mining , oil and gas extraction , and colonization for agriculture . These safeguards will protect essential forest habitat for the Endangered Black-faced Black Spider Monkey and White-bellied Spider Monkey , Endangered Giant Brazilian Otter , and hundreds of bird and amphibian species . CEDIA is working with 160 communities in Peru ’ s Loreto region to support them in achieving land ownership and management rights . Fortunately , significant political will in support of Indigenous land titling exists in Peru today . above Taman Negara National Park landscape | © amir isqandar / panthera
Rainforest Trust 2023 Annual Report 15