Nonette Royo

Biography

Nonette has spent more than 30 years fighting for the tenure rights of indigenous
communities in the world’s principal tropical forest regions. As executive director of Tenure
Facility since its founding in 2017, she has worked alongside Indigenous Peoples and local
communities to strengthen their tenure and ability to preserve, protect and enjoy the
benefits of their traditional lands and resources. During this time, she has overseen the
dramatic growth of Tenure Facility from a ground-breaking start-up to one of the world’s
leading financing mechanisms offering longer-term, flexible, timely and direct support to
Indigenous Peoples and local community organisations across 20 countries. A lawyer, she cofounded and led the Samdhana Institute and set up several non-governmental organisations focusing on advancing Indigenous Peoples and women’s legal rights.
Nonette is a frequent speaker on indigenous rights, including a 2022 TED Talk on forest
guardianship.