Dear Jack

Please help us stop US tax dollars from funding human rights abuses in the name of conservation.

Much of the $700-800 million of US funds spent every year on international biodiversity conservation still goes towards “fortress conservation” projects.

These evict and exclude Indigenous and local people from their ancestral lands, and employ guards who have perpetrated appalling abuses.

Indigenous peoples are the best guardians of the natural world, but large conservation organizations like WWF and WCS have used US taxpayers’ dollars to support parks where rangers have killed, raped and tortured local people.

A landmark bill to stop this is stalled in Congress. The “Advancing Human Rights-Centered International Conservation Act” will:

• Stop USFWS funding of conservation projects being used to finance gross human rights abuses;

• Mean that conservation projects must have the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous people for new or expanded National Parks or other ‘Protected Areas’ on their land, in order to receive USFWS funding.

Your voice is essential in getting Congress to pass this legislation. Please email Congress, urging them to support and reintroduce H.R. 7025, the “Advancing Human Rights-Centered International Conservation Act.”

Passing this legislation is a crucial step in stopping US-funded human rights abuses.