 | |
| Founded | 1995, The Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Type | Non governmental organisation |
| Focus | Forests Indigenous rights Climate change European Union Development aid |
| Location | |
Area served | Global |
| Method | Campaigning, research, networking, capacity building |
Key people | Hannah Mowat Iola Leal Riesco (ex-staff) Saskia Ozinga (ex-staff) Richard Wainwright Julia Christian Kelsey Perlman |
Budget | €4,304,842 EUR (2022)[1] |
Employees | 15+ |
| Website | https://www.fern.org/ |
Fern (also Stichting Fern) is a Dutch foundation created in 1995.[2] It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's (EU) involvement in forests and coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Fern works to protect forests and the rights of people who depend on them.[2]
Although Fern is known for its work on forests, since 2000 it has widened its scope to include climate, forest governance, trade and sustainable supply chain[3] as many of the decisions made in these areas have a direct or indirect impact on forests and forest peoples' rights. In all these areas, Fern collaborates with many environmental groups and social movements across the world.
Fern is a non-hierarchical flat organization and has no director.[4] In 2024, it had three offices (Brussels, Belgium; Montreuil, France; and Moreton-in-Marsh, UK)[5] and around 18 staff; their registered office is in Delft.
Fern's official mission statement is "To increase understanding of, and access to, European policy making; and to campaign for policies and practices in Europe that focus on forests and forest peoples’ rights and deliver economic, environmental and social justice globally.”[2]