The Rainforest Fund supports programs that cover a range of issues from protection of civil and political rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples, to the promotion and defense of their social, economic and cultural rights, including the protection of rights to their land and against the destructiveness of resource exploitation. We support: Community development, Natural resource management, Institutional strengthening, Legal defense, Public awareness, Policy activities, Combatting climate change so that Indigenous and tribal peoples may sustain a healthy livelihood. We assess each program based on stringent criteria, the most important being the empowerment and ownership of the beneficiaries.