Climate Action - Rainforest Trust - Species | Communities

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.
Rainforests produce between 20-30% of our oxygen.

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 23 million acres and the carbon stored within. Rainforest Trust has reduced the emissions equivalent to every passenger vehicle currently on the planet — 1.06 billion — plus 278 million more. 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 in 2018, 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. Just $10 donated towards Rainforest Trust’s Saving Indigenous Lands in the Amazon project in Peru can protect 5 acres and approximately 3,675 metric tons of carbon dioxide. If released into the atmosphere, that would be equal to the yearly carbon dioxide released by 781 U.S. cars.

All those emissions, prevented through a $10 donation.

Millions and millions of tons of carbon are stored in our projects around the world. Imagine the impact you could have on this world by ensuring that critical habitat for endangered species is protected and the carbon held within rainforests is kept there forever — all for little more than a morning latte. Please consider a donation today to our Conservation Action Fund, which helps to support our most urgent projects around the world.

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

THE CARBON WE SECURED LAST YEAR WAS EQUAL TO THE YEARLY AVERAGE EMISSIONS OF 40.1 MILLION CARS IN THE UNITED STATES–

ALMOST TWICE AS MANY CARS AS IN CALIFORNIA.

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

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

How do we make it better?

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

You can have an impact.

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

Quicklinks

Headquarters

Connect With Us

Ways to Help