SOUTH AFRICA | 195 ACRES TO PROTECT Expand Protection for South Africa’ s Rarest Tortoise
South Africa’ s Cape Floral Kingdom is a biodiversity hotspot of unique microclimates and fragile habitats threatened by encroaching development. Rainforest Trust is working to protect its native“ fynbos” shrubland, which is home to the last 800 Critically Endangered Geometric Tortoises living in the wild.
Thanks to your dedicated support and our strong partnership with the Turtle Conservancy, we have the opportunity to expand the existing Geometric Tortoise Reserve by supporting the purchase of an additional 195 acres of intact habitat to add to the Breede River Valley Fynbos Preserve. This protected area provides a necessary buffer from sprawling ranches, vineyards, urbanization, and poaching for the illegal pet trade. Our local partners are taking additional steps to boost and monitor tortoise breeding, expand community education, combat the spread of invasive species, and prevent species loss from wildfires.
Enhancing connectivity across these diverse areas in the Western Cape will also help safeguard the resiliency of approximately 6,000 endemic plant species as well as endangered birds like the Secretarybird, Martial Eagle, and Black Harrier.
Geometric Tortoise | Gerrit Rautenbach
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO | 316,294 ACRES TO PROTECT Build Connectivity for Endangered Wildlife in the Congo Rainforest
The Democratic Republic of Congo( DRC) is home to the Congo Rainforest, the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world. But 80 % of the rainforest within its borders has been left unprotected and vulnerable to resource extraction, charcoal production, slash-and-burn agriculture, and other destructive activities. Over the last decade, the DRC has lost more than 1 million acres of primary forest every year, and large-scale conservation is needed now more than ever.
Thanks to your dedicated support, we are partnering with Réseau pour la Conservation et la Réhabilitation des Ecosystèmes Forestiers to help establish eight Community Forests in collaboration with Bambuti Indigenous communities. These areas will create a critical buffer and block encroaching deforestation from the east, while safeguarding a key conservation corridor between Maiko National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. Safe, intact forested landscapes are critical to the healthy movement and breeding of critically endangered species, including the African Forest Elephant and the Eastern Gorilla.
The Congo Basin is an essential planetary buffer in the face of climate change. This project alone will store more than 76.5 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalents each year.
Eastern Gorilla | Tanongsak Duriyaniran