Prince William announces landmark Amazon partnership to protect Indigenous defenders of nature at United for Wildlife Summit in Rio
At today’s United for Wildlife Global Summit, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, unveiled an ambitious new initiative to partner with, and enhance protections for, Indigenous Peoples and nature protectors across the Brazilian Amazon.
The Amazon, one of the world’s most vital ecosystems, faces a dual crisis of accelerating environmental destruction and escalating violence against those working to protect it. Speaking at the fourth annual United for Wildlife Global Summit in Brazil, The Prince announced a strategic partnership between The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife programme, the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), the Podáali Fund, Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) and Re:wild which specifically aims to address such challenges.
In his keynote address, Prince William said:
“We cannot manage our forests while their protectors live in fear. And we cannot protect environmental defenders without securing the territories they defend. This initiative means working in partnership with those who know the land best to strengthen Indigenous-led systems, deliver legal aid, and emergency support. We must protect the protectors if we’re to ensure the future of these critical environments.”
Tackling catastrophic losses and threat to life caused by environmental crime
In 2024, over 1.7 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest were cleared, with much of the destruction driven by environmental crimes such as illegal logging, gold mining, and land-grabbing. For Indigenous communities – whose lands host approximately 27% of the Brazilian Amazon – such types of illicit activity cause catastrophic damage to livelihoods, ancestral lands, and sacred sites.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities are partners and leaders, as well as rights-holders with their own solutions. They have been protecting the Amazon and their ways of life for generations, and their stewardship has a clear, tangible impact. This is demonstrated by the fact that deforestation in Indigenous lands is up to 83% lower than in unprotected areas of the Brazilian Amazon.
However, these protectors face growing intimidation, violence and threats to life. In 2023 and 2024, 393 cases of violence against those defending the environment were recorded in Brazil. Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are disproportionately affected, accounting for around a third of those killed or who disappeared in 2024.
Toya Manchineri, Executive Coordinator of COIAB, said: “The safety of those who defend the forests with their own lives must be central to global discussions. For us, Indigenous peoples, the territory is sacred: it is where the spiritual and the material come together, sustaining our well-being and the preservation of our planet. Protecting our territories is, therefore, a mission inherited from our ancestors. We continue this struggle with our own lives, and we invite the world to join this global mission — to protect those who protect the Earth.
COIAB and the Podáali Fund are immensely happy and honoured to celebrate this partnership with The Royal Foundation and partners, which means supporting, defending, and protecting the lives of those who protect.”
The landmark partnership announced as part of the Global Summit seeks to break down the barriers to the safety and protection of Indigenous leaders as they exercise their rights across nine states of the Brazilian Amazon. It will prioritise expanding access to legal support and establishing an emergency response fund to help individuals at risk to reach safety – whether through emergency evacuation, secure communications, safe houses or humanitarian aid.
The partnership will also work to raise global awareness of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and their vital role in protecting the Amazon, while improving the monitoring of threats through a shared data platform. COIAB reaches 750,000 Indigenous Peoples, across approximately 110 million hectares of Amazon territory.
Dr Tom Clements, Executive Director of United for Wildlife, said: “Protecting the land, territories and resources of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is one of the most effective ways to protect nature and fight climate change. Crucially, this initiative is built and led by Indigenous governed delivery mechanisms and provides an example of how the global community can support nature protectors everywhere.”
The United for Wildlife Global Summit in Rio de Janeiro was held on Tuesday, 4th November 2025 with the aim of drawing global attention to the rise in environmental crime and celebrating frontline defenders, driving momentum and solutions for coordinated global action.
Find out more about further announcements made at the Global Summit from governments and the private sector.
For further details please follow our United for Wildlife Instagram and X channels.