[crb_slider]

[crb_slide image=”https://legacy.rainforesttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Jaguar.jpg” credits=”Public Domain” title=”” text=””]

[/crb_slider]

WARRENTON, VA – May 7, 2015

Rainforest Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization focused on saving threatened lands and endangered species, announced today that it has more than tripled the original funding goal for its Million Acre Jaguar Initiative.

The original target, which was to raise funds necessary to save one million acres, has been expanded to include 3.3 million acres by September 2015.

Rainforest Trust launched the initiative in September 2014 with the goal of creating nature reserves in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru to save critical Jaguar habitat.

Jaguars face an increasingly uncertain future as a result of massive habitat destruction, widespread hunting and loss of prey. The Jaguar population has decreased significantly throughout Latin America, leaving these magnificent animals in urgent need of assistance. For this reason, Rainforest Trust has been working closely with in-country conservation partners to protect these vulnerable areas through direct land purchase, as well as government designation of protected areas.

In February, Rainforest Trust successfully collaborated with conservation partner Panthera Brasil to purchase and protect a 24,640-acre ranch located in the heart of Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland.

Jaguars face an uncertain future  © Public Domain

Jaguar habitat in Brazil’s Pantanal  © ProAves

Populations are decreasing across Latin America   © ProAves

Home to the planet’s highest density of Jaguars, the Pantanal serves as one of the most critical conservation landscapes for the elusive big cat. As a critical link in a Jaguar corridor across Central and South America, the new reserve will play a strategic role in not only protecting the Pantanal’s Jaguars, but also other diverse wildlife populations, including Hyacinth Macaws, Giant Otters and South American Tapirs.

In recent months Rainforest Trust has also completed its funding goals for new Jaguar reserves in Guatemala and Colombia.

Collaborating with conservation partner FUNDAECO in Guatemala, Rainforest Trust plans to create a 142,646-acre protected area in the biodiverse Sierra Santa Cruz Mountain Range that will provide habitat for Jaguars, Baird’s Tapirs and other endangered wildlife species.

In Colombia, Rainforest Trust is working with local partner ProAves to protect a population of Jaguars that has been isolated by rainforest destruction in central Colombia. The population is increasingly threatened by rapidly expanding oil palm plantations. Together, Rainforest Trust and ProAves will create a 4,164-acre reserve that will protect a rich mix of forest and wetland.

Rainforest Trust continues to raise funds to create the Sierra del Divisor National Park in Peru. The Sierra del Divisor project, which will protect an important habitat corridor for Jaguars, is a multi-year initiative originally launched in September 2013. In less than half the time expected, Rainforest Trust has raised over 98 percent of the necessary funding to create the 5.9 million acre reserve. Most of the acres conserved by the Million Acre Jaguar Initiative are located within the Sierra del Divisor.

“We are thrilled with the support we’ve received in the eight months since we launched the Million Acre Jaguar Initiative and are pleased to increase the funding challenge to 3.3 million acres,” said Christine Hodgdon, International Conservation Manager at Rainforest Trust. “This initiative will not only help to preserve critical Jaguar habitat, but also the long-term health of many ecosystems.”

To donate or learn more about this project visit http://legacy.rainforesttrust.org/project/urgent-appeals/jaguar.

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.