The Nature Recovery Project Funds New Cohorts for Forest conservation in Africa, Asia and Latin America
30/07/2025
The Nature Recovery Project, in partnership with Ashden Climate Solutions, has expanded its impact by funding a new cohort of the Thriving Forests project. This latest phase supports seven community-led organisations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, all working to protect and restore vital forest ecosystems.
This expansion brings the total number of conservation pioneers supported through our partnership to 15 organisations, all driving bold, grassroots solutions for forest protection, biodiversity restoration, and climate resilience.
Thriving Forests protects and restores global tropical forests, through support for Indigenous Peoples and local community-led organisations. Its aim is to protect or restore 1 million hectares of threatened forest.
The seven new 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 organisations are based in Burundi, Gabon, Indonesia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They join eight other Thriving Forests participants announced last year.
Photo: Supporting forest communities like this one in Gabon, which are training community members in apiculture, will both boost livelihoods, secure land rights and protect precious forests.
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.
What the new forest guardians are planning
3C (Conservation et Communauté de Changement) – Burundi
3C is restoring 13,000 hectares of forest along a vital chimpanzee corridor between Burundi and Tanzania, launching a groundbreaking community forestry approach in Burundi. The organisation is planting and protecting trees in Mont Mboza - Burundi’s last remaining forest - while supporting sustainable businesses and fruit tree cultivation for local communities. This work not only boosts food security and incomes but also reduces the risk of devastating landslides.
ADINA (Integral Development Association of Nairi Awari) - 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.
Ashiñwaka – 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.
CFLEDD (Coalition des Femmes Leaders pour l'Environnement) – Democratic Republic of 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 (L'association Protectrice des Grands Singes de la Moukalaba) - 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.
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 programme. 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 Ashden
In the Global South, Ashden accelerates transformative climate solutions to build a more just world. It creates impact through awards, programmes and campaigns. Ashden supports work bringing clean, affordable energy to those living without it – from rural villages to refugee camps. The organisation also empowers threatened Indigenous communities to deliver natural climate solutions. It has a strategic focus on green jobs, skills and livelihoods.
Websites:
ADINA: https://mecanismodegobernanzaterritorial.org/nairi-awari-proteger-reforestar-y-conservar/
Ashiñwaka: https://www.mujeressapara.org/en/home
CFLEDD: https://www.cfledd.com/
Hutan Kita Institute: https://hutaninstitute.or.id/
Ngudu Dimbu: https://www.programmeppi.org/beneficiaire/ngudu-dimbu/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Association-Ngudu-Dimbu-100069898688514/
PROGRAM: https://alliance-gsac.org/association-protectrice-des-grands-singes