Hivos’ programme with Greenpeace, All Eyes on the Amazon, is very pleased to receive £300,000 in funding from the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery in the UK. In 2017, Hivos and Greenpeace received a 14.8 million euro contribution from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund to run and implement All Eyes on the Amazon.

One million hectares of rainforest to be saved

The extra funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery will save one million hectares of Brazilian Amazon rainforest through an innovative training programme for local forest ranger teams. This will allow them to use drones, smartphones and satellite-based monitoring systems to collect images, maps and stories as evidence against deforestation.  

Rainforests are crucial for the future of our planet. They provide oxygen, natural cooling and store billions of tons of CO2. But the Amazon rainforest and the people living in it are under pressure like never before. The hunt for natural resources such as timber, oil, minerals and metals and expanding soy plantations for livestock production are an enormous threat for our planet.

Cooperation with indigenous communities

Hivos, together with Greenpeace and a broad coalition of indigenous, environmental and human rights organisations, is taking coordinated action through All Eyes on the Amazon to stop the destruction of the rain forest. This includes working with law enforcement, undertaking international lawsuits and mobilising the public through global campaigns. Together they protect ten million hectares of forest across nine selected areas of Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. The cooperation with indigenous communities is crucial, and the power of what we do to tackle deforestation lies in their hands.

Clara Govier, Head of Charities at the People’s Postcode Lottery, says, “This is a cutting edge project that makes use of technology to fight deforestation, but also puts the power in the hands of indigenous people. On behalf of the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery we are delighted to fund this groundbreaking and critical work.”