Founders Sting and his wife Trudie Styler began the Rainforest Foundation International in 1989 after they saw first-hand the destruction of the Amazon rainforests, and the devastating impact it had on the lives of the indigenous peoples who lived there.

The Start: A Promise

In its first years of work, the Rainforest Foundation focused on the Amazon region of Brazil, per the promise made by Sting to the indigenous leader Raoni, of the Kayapò tribe, to help him and his people obtain legal rights to their traditional land.

This commitment was fulfilled in 1992, thanks to the generous contributions of people from all over the world. The physical demarcation of the Kayapò tribe’s land was undertaken with the indigenous people themselves through the most modern technology.