Local funds working together are the way ahead for social and environmental movements 

The Brazilian-based Casa Fund has been dedicated in recent years to two lines of action within the field of international philanthropy: 1) developing a strong narrative that highlights the difference between local funds formed by activists from the Global South and established funding sources from the North; 2) documenting and sharing its own model to inspire local activist funds across the globe. 

Members of the Casa Fund-supported Apinajé Indigenous Volunteer Brigade which works to preserve the Amazonian forest and provide environmental education to the local population. Credit: Bruno Kelly

From our own South American work over 20 years, it has become very clear that the closer and more accessible a fund is to its intended recipients, the better equipped it is to protect nature and the more efficient it is in financing more vulnerable and excluded local communities that are key to global environmental protection. It also became clear that, just as northern funds operating in our regions have limited reach to this essential audience, so does a single regional fund.