CAF Update: Americas — Sept 2024 | Page 2

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Ecuador | Stop Logging in Ecuador ’ s Chocó Rainforest

Together , We Accomplish Great Things

With your help , the Conservation Action Fund ( CAF ) has supported 110 projects in the tropical Americas and the Caribbean .
Tucked between the beaches and mountains of northwestern Ecuador , the Chocó Rainforest is among the most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world . Here , we find more plant species than anywhere else in the Americas — including the Amazon Rainforest . Even more astounding is the fact that approximately one in four of these plant species are endemic to the region , meaning they are found here and nowhere else in the world .
But logging and deforestation for plantations have decimated the Chocó rainforest . Only 2 % of the original forest remained in 2021 , and more is cut down every year . To safeguard what remains , Rainforest Trust and our long-time partner , Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco , have worked together for more than 15 years to create and expand the Canandé Reserve . With your support , we added another 8,563 acres to the reserve in 2023 .
Canandé Reserve in Chocó Rainforest | Jocotoco ; Banded Ground Cuckoo | Agami Photo Agency
We have already safeguarded 17,785,593 acres , and another estimated 40.5 million acres are in the process of being protected .
Once fully protected , these acres will safeguard the CO 2 equivalent of more than 2 billion vehicles driven for one year .
Overall , these projects are protecting 1,071 threatened and endangered species in the tropical Americas and the Caribbean .
These successes are possible only because of our past , present , and future CAF donors . Thank you for being a part of this essential work .
Brown-headed Spider Monkey | suzanneannaars