Nonette Royo

Activist, Care taker, Change agent, Environmentalist, Lawyer, Parent

Nonette is a lawyer, and a specialist in Indigenous Peoples, land rights, environment, and natural resources management. Most of her work has been in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, especially in Indonesia, Philippines, Mekong region and Melanesia. Her experience spans for over 30 years and includes nearly a decade advising the Global Greengrants Fund, several USAID and DFID-UK Natural Resource and Community Forestry Portfolios and the Norwegian Climate and Forest funds, dedicated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities in forest and climate programmes. She co-founded and led the Samdhana Institute and set up several non-governmental organisations focusing on advancing Indigenous Peoples and women’s legal rights. Over the years, she has consistently helped design and implement funding portfolios for local communities and Indigenous Peoples in the global south. Nonette is the executive director of the Tenure Facility, and her work today expands to Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. When not working, Nonette enjoys spending time in nature and with her family.

Gardening Bridging ideas Allowing myself to mistakes and learning from them

Securing land rights of Indigenous Peoples, as forest guardians, protect our standing forests, and helps us survive climate change

Financial mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples, Human rights and environmental law, Indigenous Peoples Legal Rights, Environmental and Social Safeguards, Peace and Conflict, Women's legal rights

I see beauty in diverse Indigenous cultures, their practices; I feel the spirit in their great forests – I have deep respect in Indigenous People’s courage in defending these domains and forests. In the ‘land of promise’ where I grew up, land conflicts awakened my desire to become a lawyer that look at the ‘just side’ of the law -- to use the pen to fight, not the gun – to ‘equalize’ inequality. At Tenure Facility we support Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants to use existing legal opportunities to secure their tenure rights and monitor their territory. With this approach, the Facility has already helped groups advance their rights, thrive and protect nature in up to 14 million hectares of land, despite having only existed for a few years. I’m still looking for innovative partnerships to help us help Indigenous Peoples meet their own needs, so together we can survive this climate crisis. Being part of Ted and Ted Audacious will leverage this work!

Zen Coaching