Cool Earth’s Top Achievements in 2023

As we come to the end of another busy year, we wanted to reflect on the incredible work Cool Earth has achieved with the help of our partners and supporters.

Rainforest Labs in Papua New Guinea

As you read this, a brand new Rainforest Lab is being constructed in Papua New Guinea – our first in the country! We’re talking wifi access, digital devices, electricity and access to satellite data. Data and technology in Indigenous communities’ gives people control over their lives, their land, and the future of their rainforests. With satellite data, communities are able to track in real-time threats such as forest fires or illegal loggers.

Rainforest Labs puts land-use data into the hands of the Indigenous villages that need it most. Satellite data in Indigenous communities’ hands gives them control over their lives, their land, and the future of their rainforests.

Basic Income Pilot in Peru

You might have heard that we’ve just launched a world first basic income pilot! For the first time ever, Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest have been provided with an income that is transferred directly to individuals. For the next two years, every adult in three communities in the Amazon rainforest will be receiving a regular income to sustain their needs. They won’t have to sell their land and forest to earn an income, to feed their families, to send their children to school or to care for the elderly.

Wildfire Prevention in Peru

Rising temperatures and prolonged droughts create favourable conditions for the spread of fires, which are too strong and too frequent for Indigenous communities to control. The project PAAMARI is a one-of-a-kind initiative led by CARE and supported by Cool Earth to encourage national governments to include local and Indigenous knowledge in state-run fire prevention programmes. This intervention focuses on training brigades in 19 communities in the Ene River basin to detect and report fires, improving fire management practices, and providing a monitoring and reporting centre. Thanks to this, we hope that the 19 communities living in the area and the 242,000 hectares of rainforest will be protected.

The aftermath of forest fires in the community of Potsoteni, Peru.

Supporting Communities in Cameroon

Alongside our partners CCREAD, we have been supporting 20 local rainforest communities in Cameroon. So far, 105 family run organic farms have been established on previously used land, rejuvenating old farms and preventing further forest clearances. Additionally, initiatives promoting rainforest protection and advocacy platforms have empowered communities to take grassroots action for climate and rainforest preservation.

Safe Water in Papua New Guinea

In partnership with local organisation Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (RWSSP), we’ve been installing rainwater collection tanks to every household within our Papua New Guinea partnership communities. Ultimately, 3000 people will have access to clean water on their doorstep. We’ve made huge progress this year and are over halfway to reaching this target!

Edward Isaac, working for RWSSP in our collaborative clean water project, fits taps to rainwater tanks to be installed for each household in Sololo

Partnering with Female-led Indigenous Organisations in Peru

We’re proud to be collaborating with two incredible all female Indigenous-led organisations, The National Organisation of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP) and The Organisation of Indigenous Women of the Central Jungle (OMIASEC). Together we will continue working to strengthen autonomy, protect territories, increase participation of women, and build resilience of Indigenous communities in the face of the climate crisis. 

New Rainforest Partnerships in Papua New Guinea

We’ve signed new partnerships with both the Gadaisu and Kondu communities in Papua New Guinea! These partnerships are promises to work closely together in developing projects that will ultimately reduce deforestation in these areas. This is a huge step forward in our mission to back even more Indigenous peoples in Papua New Guinea, and to protect more rainforest.

Residents of Gadaisu line up to signing the agreement.

Help us deliver more projects

Whether it’s creating food security, improving access to healthcare or getting real time data into the hands of those who need it most, we must start with people living in the rainforest.

You can help us do More Good by supporting Cool Earth this December and having your donation doubled, for free! By donating to Cool Earth you’ll be supporting Indigenous peoples and rainforest communities whose lives, cultures and rainforests are at risk from deforestation and the impacts of climate change.

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