Red Panda, a species found in the Puwamajhuwa Community Red Panda Conservation Area, Nepal | paolo gallo
Letter from our CEO
This brief report marks and celebrates milestones and transitions during Rainforest Trust ' s short financial year of January to June 2024.
The most notable milestone was protecting 50 million acres of critical habitat since our founding in 1988, an area roughly equal to the total area of all U. S. national parks. This was our goal when we embarked on the SAVES Challenge in 2016. The global COVID-19 pandemic slowed down protected area creation for several years, but it has picked up since. Indeed, as this letter goes to press in June 2025, we have now protected 56,519,441 acres, and are working to protect an additional 66,863,552 acres with our active projects.
Our most notable transition was the retirement of our truly superb board chair, Dr. Eric Veach. Eric joined the board in 2015 and became chair in 2018. He guided us through a challenging leadership transition, oversaw our progressive increase in impact and professionalism, and always safeguarded the interests of our donors by maximizing the conservation value of their philanthropic investment. Eric has accepted the title of Emeritus in recognition of his significant and ongoing contributions. He and his wife, Luanne Lemmer, continue to be active donors and advisors to Rainforest Trust.
Okapi and baby, a species found in the Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo | vladimir turkenich
We also transitioned our financial year, which is why this extraordinary report covers a six-month period from January to June 2024. It was a record six months for grant-making, with $ 42.2 million in new projects approved, and a solid one for fundraising, with $ 18.27 million in revenue. Moving forward, we will close the gap between these two numbers as we spend out several multi-year grants.
All of these milestones and transitions result from our healthy growth and, more importantly, expanding impact. That results entirely from the extraordinary generosity of our donors. We are sincerely grateful to every one of you.
In June 2024 we welcomed Prof. Bernie Tershy as board chair, after only one year on the board but many years on the council. A global leader in the science of species extinction, marine conservation, social enterprise entrepreneurship, and the role of Indigenous people and local communities in conservation, Bernie challenges us to scale up our impact and fully apply both modern and traditional knowledge to our work.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr. James C. Deutsch, CEO
Rainforest Trust 2024 Annual Report 3