Climate Action - Rainforest Trust Saves Rainforest

CLIMATE ACTION

Trees and other plants, like all living things, are made up of carbon. But when forests are cleared or burned, much of that carbon ends up in the atmosphere — similar to burning fossil fuels. This carbon changes the planet’s climate and contributes to rising temperatures, stronger storms, more severe droughts and rising sea levels.

Tropical deforestation accounts for up to 15% of net global carbon emissions each year.

Deforestation is a significant contributor of climate change-causing greenhouse gases. Studies indicate that tropical deforestation accounts for up to 15% of net global carbon emissions each year.¹ That’s about the same as every car, truck, bus, plane, ship and train on the planet combined.² That’s because nearly 70,000 acres of tropical forest are lost every day.³ But if you prevent deforestation, all that carbon remains safely stored away in the forests. So by protecting forests, Rainforest Trust prevents deforestation — and by doing so, prevents emissions.

Tropical rainforests are the lungs of planet Earth.

How do we make it better?

Halting tropical deforestation and allowing for regrowth could mitigate up to 50% of net global emissions through 2050.

But stopping deforestation doesn’t just prevent emissions. Studies have shown that halting tropical deforestation and allowing for regrowth could mitigate up to 50% of net global carbon emissions through 2050. By protecting rainforest habitat for endangered species, Rainforest Trust prevents carbon emissions and safeguards the planet’s resilience to climate change.

We’ve already protected over 37 million acres and the carbon stored within. Rainforest Trust has reduced the emissions equivalent to every passenger vehicle currently on the planet. And we are not slowing down.

Conservation isn’t easy. Nor is it without pitfalls, roadblocks or setbacks. But if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that conservation is worth it.

It’s worth every long night, every muddy boot and every mosquito bite. When you spot a critically endangered parrot thriving in a protected area, or witness a community growing their economy by promoting sustainability, or document a new birth from a threatened monkey species, you know conservation is worth it. All of it.

You can have an impact.

You can have an impact by helping to fund current projects storing vast amounts of carbon. Take a stand for our planet and donate to our new Rainforest Climate Action Fund to support projects that protect forests which cost-effectively store and sequester vast quantities of carbon.

Donating to this fund may be the most efficient way to fight climate change right now. Together, we will work to permanently lock up 15 billion tons of carbon by 2025.

We cannot save the Earth without you. Join our fight to protect forests, keep carbon stored and create a healthier future for our planet and all who rely on it.

We must act now.

39.6

BILLION TREES PROTECTED

EACH TREE PROTECTED STORES CARBON AND IS HOME TO WILDLIFE RANGING FROM FROGS TO PARROTS TO BEETLES.

THE CARBON WE’VE SAFEGUARDED IS EQUAL TO THE YEARLY AVERAGE EMISSIONS OF 2.5 BILLION CARS DRIVEN FOR ONE YEAR.

11.4

BILLION METRIC TONNES OF CO2 EQUIVALENTS SAFEGUARDED

According to National Geographic, new science says land conservation must double by 2030 to prevent dangerous warming and unravelling of ecosystems.

RESOLVE, a non-profit group, recently published a new paper in Science Advances titled “A Global Deal For Nature: Guiding principles, milestones, and targets.”

This is the first science-based plan with clear milestones on why it’s vital to achieve these goals and how it could be done, says Eric Dinerstein, Director of Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions at RESOLVE. It’s not widely understood that large areas of forests, grasslands, and other natural areas are needed to soak up carbon emissions, he adds. Intact forests, and especially tropical forests, sequester twice as much carbon as planted monocultures, for example.

“Every morsel of food, every sip of water, the air we breathe is the result of work done by other species. Nature gives us everything we need to survive,” says Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and lead of the National Geographic Society’s work as part of the Campaign for Nature, a partnership with the Wyss Campaign for Nature to inspire the protection of 30 percent of the planet by 2030.

Read the full article here

¹ Houghton, R.A. et. al. Nature Climate Change 5 1022-1023 (2015)
² IPCC Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change.
³ Global Forest Watch
⁴ Vehicle emissions data from US EPA

How do we make it better?

Halting tropical deforestation and allowing for regrowth could mitigate up to 50% of net global emissions through 2050.

We’ve already protected over 37 million acres and the carbon stored within. Rainforest Trust has reduced the emissions equivalent to every passenger vehicle currently on the planet. And we are not slowing down.

You can have an impact.

We must act now.

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