Overview
- William said The Royal Foundation will partner with COIAB and the Podaali Fund, described as the first Indigenous-led fund covering the Brazilian Amazon.
- The partnership’s initial work will expand access to legal aid, create an emergency support fund for those in danger, and raise awareness of Indigenous rights under Indigenous guidance.
- He linked the effort to environmental crime, citing 1.7 million hectares of Amazon forest cleared in the past year and 120 environmental protectors killed or disappeared in Latin America in 2024.
- Building on a wider Nature’s Protectors Initiative, William reported more than 6,000 African rangers insured in the first year toward a five-year goal of 10,000, with plans to replicate the model globally.
- Leonardo DiCaprio delivered a recorded appeal urging policies and finance for Indigenous guardians, highlighting $1.7 billion mobilized by forest tenure funders and a Protecting Our Planet pledge of $500 million with plans to renew.