Faith Leaders and Indigenous Peoples Joined One Alliance to Stop Tropical Deforestation

The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI) is a multi-faith alliance, hosted by Rainforest Foundation Norway and launched in Oslo in June 2017, that brings religious leaders and faith-based groups into the fight to end tropical deforestation. It works in five countries (Brazil, Colombia, DR Congo, Indonesia and Peru), which hold about 70% of the world's remaining tropical forests, and its partners include GreenFaith, Religions for Peace, UN Environment and the World Council of Churches. In Peru, an interreligious forest initiative was formally constituted in Cusco on 4 June 2025 with Catholic, Methodist, Adventist, Latter-day Saint, Baha'i and Andean spiritual representatives. In September 2026, IRI-Colombia backed a move in Congress to create a commission to protect the Amazon and published a 20-module guide on biblical lessons for environmental ministry.