Ashden’s Thriving Forests programme has announced funding totalling £175,000 for seven organisations from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Thriving Forests protects and restores global tropical forests, through support for organisations led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
The seven organisations joining the programme in 2025 will receive direct grants of £26,000 to expand their work nurturing forest communities, and the climate benefits of the nature around them. Participants will also receive in-kind support that helps them attract further funding from other sources.
The seven organisations are based in Burundi, Gabon, Indonesia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They join eight other Thriving Forests participants announced in 2024.
All 15 organisations are supporting sustainable livelihoods for forest communities – from beekeeping and nut growing to sustainable tourism. Most are also helping communities map, monitor and gain legal rights to their land. These activities give local people the incentives and resources to protect and nurture biodiversity, and resist destructive logging, mining and land clearing.
As a result, Thriving Forests is growing the incomes and resilience of some of the world’s most effective guardians of forests and biodiversity, who are also among the most vulnerable to climate change. In doing so, the programme helps protect vital carbon stores and shields us all from the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
Alongside funding, the programme is strengthening organisations’ governance and core operations, such as finance and communications. This will help the participants secure further funding from other sources – a huge challenge for smaller, locally-rooted organisations, despite their proven ability to deliver climate and development impact.
The programme is funded by The Nature Recovery Project.
Who are the new Thriving Forests participants – and how will they use their grants?
3C (Burundi)
3C will plant and protect trees in Burundi’s last remaining forest area, Mont Mboza, and nurture sustainable businesses for local people. As well as growing incomes, this work will lower the danger of landslides.
ADINA (Costa Rica)
Led by the Cabécar people of Nairi Awari, ADINA is reclaiming ancestral lands and leading a powerful Indigenous model of conservation and restoration. The organisation stewards over 5,100 hectares of recognised Indigenous territory, with a focus on reforestation, sustainable tourism, and mapping. Ecotourism revenue funds the restoration of degraded lands, while new women’s groups strengthen resilience across nine Indigenous communities.
CFLEDD (DR Congo)
CFLEDD is a women-led national network promoting gender equity and forest rights across the DRC. The organisation works with forest-edge communities to advance women’s land rights, strengthen their leadership in forest governance, and boost economic autonomy through food production and preservation. CFLEDD plans to secure 165,000 hectares of community forest, with women leading the way.
Hutan Kita Institute (Indonesia)
In South Sumatra, the Hutan Kita Institute is scaling up forest-friendly livelihoods and policy influence. Operating across 3,000+ hectares of rainforest and 92 Forest Management Units, the organisation works with nearly 20,000 families. Its work includes agroforestry training, forest monitoring with drones and GIS, social forestry licensing, and gender-equitable enterprise – from coffee to ecotourism through Agroforestry Farmer Groups (KUPS).
Ngudu Dimbu (Gabon)
Ngudu Dimbu supports communities in southwest Gabon to reduce hunting pressure and human-elephant conflict through new income-generating activities. From beekeeping to orchards, these initiatives improve local livelihoods while protecting biodiversity in and around a critical national park. The organisation also leads participatory land mapping to strengthen communities’ legal land rights.
PROGRAM (Gabon)
PROGRAM is a grassroots conservation initiative protecting 20,000 hectares of forest in the buffer zone of Gabon’s Moukalaba-Doudou National Park — home to gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants. Through community-led tourism and conservation, PROGRAM engages local people, including former poachers, in tracking and protecting wildlife, while also supporting sustainable food production and alternative incomes.
Ashiniawka – Asociación de Mujeres Sapara (Sapara Women’s Association) (Ecuador)
Ashiñwaka is an Indigenous women-led organisation protecting more than 360,000 hectares of ancestral Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador. After halting oil exploration in 2019, the association now trains women from the Sapara community in nature-based enterprise and community-led tourism. Their work blends ancestral wisdom, legal advocacy, and bold Indigenous leadership to ensure long-term protection of the forest and economic resilience for Sapara families.
Visit Ashden.org to see the eight organisations that joined Thriving Forests in 2024.
Growing vital work around the world
Ashden’s Head of International Programmes, Isona Shibata, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome more partners to the Thriving Forests programme. Our support will expand their vital work – and, crucially, help them attract more funding from others.”
New partners include Ngudu Dimbu, based in Gabon’s Moukalaba-Doudou National Park. “We are honoured to join Ashden’s Thriving Forests program. This unique opportunity will strengthen our commitment to conservation, supporting local communities and developing robust strategies to sustain and expand our actions in favour of forests and the well-being of populations.”
James Berry, Head of Strategy at The Nature Recovery Project, said: “Our objective of protecting forests, empowering local communities, and creating sustainable livelihoods while restoring and increasing biodiversity has taken another step forward with the launch of the second cohort of the Thriving Forests programme. We are building a model that can be replicated in other forest-stressed areas worldwide. This growing partnership is already delivering a powerful impact, and together, we can nurture nature and strengthen the resilience of people who depend on it, ensuring our forests thrive for generations to come.”
About The Nature Recovery Project
The Nature Recovery Project, founded in 2022, addresses the climate crisis through habitat restoration, rainforest conservation and regenerative farming. The Nature Recovery Project seeks opportunities to partner with organisations that share its values and ambitions for a biodiverse future.
