After a year of record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented climate disasters, the urgency to address environmental crises has never been greater. This Giving Tuesday, Rainforest Trust invites supporters to join its missionto safeguard the planet’s biodiversity by protecting critical habitat in Brazil.
Since 1988, Rainforest Trust has protected over 53 million acres of rainforest and aims to accelerate its efforts to prevent deforestation and combat climate change. Rainforest Trust supports the establishment of protected areas through direct land purchase; designation in cooperation with governments and communities; and community-managed areas that secure the ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples that depend on the land for their survival.
Tropical forests store carbon and actively remove it from the air, and 50% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity is found in rainforest habitat. The protection of standing forests is critical.
In Brazil, Rainforest Trust is working with the Mato Grosso do Sul state’s Environment Agency and local partner Onçafri to protect 326,179 acres of the world’s largest wetland—the Pantanal. Rich in biodiversity and a critical stopover for migrating birds, this landscape is in danger of drying up as temperatures rise, water is overused, land is converted for agriculture, and wildfires burn. A drying trend is negatively impacting wildlife and human communities and resulting in unusually early and intense fires in the wetland that are shattering historical records.
The Pantanal covers over 43.5 million acres across west-central Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and Paraguay. It is the world’s largest wetland, 20 times larger than the Florida Everglades, and harbors extraordinary biodiversity. Although significant portions of the Pantanal remain relatively pristine, only 4.6% is currently protected, and competing interests for land impede opportunities to conserve large-scale wilderness areas.
This Giving Tuesday, Rainforest Trust set an ambitious $100,000 goal, and now through December 3rd all gifts will have four times the impact—meaning a $50 donation will have the same impact as $200.
Speaking about Giving Tuesday and Rainforest Trust’s project in the Pantanal, James Deutsch, CEO, stated:
“In recent months fires raged across much of South America, including the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland and a magnificent ecosystem.
Rainforest Trust’s work in this area is critical, and we are working tirelessly with our local partner to safeguard this habitat and the species that live here. Upon completion, this protected area will create vital corridors for wildlife and the project will equip local teams to battle fires and rescue wildlife.”
To learn more about Rainforest Trust, visit www.rainforesttrust.org.
About Rainforest Trust
Since 1988, Rainforest Trust has been working with partners to safeguard imperiled tropical habitats and endangered species by helping to establish protected areas in partnership with Indigenous and local organizations and communities. To date, Rainforest Trust has helped protect more than 53 million acres of vital habitat across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit organization that relies upon the generous support of the public to successfully implement its important conservation action. The organization is proud of earning a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. Learn more about the work of Rainforest Trust by visiting RainforestTrust.org, X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
