WARRENTON, VA – MARCH 11, 2015

Rainforest Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization focused on saving threatened land and endangered species, has announced a multi-year goal to protect a total of 20 million acres of tropical forest by 2020.

To help launch the initiative, Rainforest Trust has teamed up with professional skier Lynsey Dyer to raise awareness about the threats to tropical forests and the ways in which the public can participate in their protection.

To date, the nonprofit has saved nearly eight million acres of critical habitat. By 2020, Rainforest Trust plans to protect an additional 12 million acres by expanding its partner network with other conservation organizations to target projects in countries around the world where tropical biodiversity is most threatened.

Lynsey Dyer © Coco Knudsen

Powder Magazine’s “Female Skier of the Year” © Lynseydyer.com

Rainforest Trust has already helped protect 8 million acres of rainforest © REGUA

Lynsey Dyer will partner with Rainforest Trust to help achieve this goal by engaging the public through social media, media interviews and challenging others to get involved. Recognized as Powder Magazine’s 2013 “Female Skier of the Year”, Dyer has skied on six continents and is considered one of the world’s most outstanding freestyle, big mountain skiers. In 2006, Dyer founded SheJumps, a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing girls’ and women’s active participation in the outdoors.

“While it might seem surprising, given my affinity for snow-covered mountains, I’ve had a passion to save the rainforest ever since I was a little girl,” said Lynsey Dyer. “I’m tremendously excited to have discovered Rainforest Trust and to help fulfill our shared vision.”

Currently, rainforests are being destroyed at a rate of 1.5 acres every second and 137 rainforest species go extinct each day. If tropical forest destruction continues at this rate, all rainforests could be destroyed within the next 40 years.

To combat the devastating impacts of deforestation, Rainforest Trust is working with conservation partners to create protected reserves around the world. These efforts include a campaign to raise $2.9 million to create the 5.9 million acre Sierra del Divisor Reserve in the Peruvian rainforest and the Million Acre Jaguar Initiative, a year-long campaign to save one million acres of Jaguar habitat in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

“We must act to save the earth’s rapidly diminishing rainforests before they’re destroyed forever,” said Dr. Paul Salaman, CEO at Rainforest Trust. “Working with our local, dedicated conservation partners, we will continue to make a real and lasting impact.”

To learn more about Rainforest Trust, visit legacy.rainforesttrust.org.

About Rainforest Trust

Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit conservation organization focused on saving rainforest and endangered species in partnership with local conservation leaders and indigenous communities. Since its founding in 1988, Rainforest Trust has saved nearly 8 million acres of rainforest and other tropical habitats and has 85 projects across 22 countries.

Media contacts:
Megan McMonagle
megan.mcmonagle@rfbinder.com
212-994-7612

Marc Ford, Rainforest Trust
info@rainforesttrust.org
1-800-456-4930