CAF Update: Americas — Sept 2024 | Page 3

protected
Peru | Final Push to Protect Indigenous Lands in the Peruvian Amazon
It is difficult to overstate the expanse of the Amazon Rainforest . Spanning nine countries , it is the world ’ s largest tropical forest , supports an estimated 10 % of the world ’ s known species , and is home to more than 2 million Indigenous People .
protected
Mexico | Protecting a Unique Cloud Forest in Veracruz , Mexico
Tropical montane cloud forests are found only in tropical highlands where cloud cover and moisture are abundant . The trees here tend to be shorter than those in lowland rainforests , but the diversity of species is often much greater . In fact , although tropical montane cloud forests occupy less than one half of one percent of the global land surface , they support an estimated 15 % of the world ’ s bird , mammal , amphibian , and tree fern species . Many of these species are found in these forests and nowhere else .
With the support of CAF donors such as yourself , Rainforest Trust and our local partner — Centro para el Desarrollo del Indígena Amazónico ( CEDIA )— have successfully assisted 222 Native and local communities in the Peruvian Amazon in obtaining land titles to their territories , providing legal protection for 4,409,133 acres of Amazon rainforest . In addition to sustaining the Indigenous People who live here , these acres also protect essential habitat for numerous endangered species , including the Black-faced Black Spider Monkey , White-bellied Spider Monkey , and Giant Otter .
Child from the Mastes Community | CEDIA
This is certainly the case for the forest found on the windward slopes of Mexico ’ s Cofre de Perote Mountain . Here , with the help of CAF donors like you , Rainforest Trust and partner Pronatura Veracruz protected 736 acres to safeguard the Critically Endangered Pigmy Splayfoot Salamander , Endangered Veracruz Pigmy Salamander , and numerous other species , many of which are only found in these forests .
( Top ) Cloud Forest Landscape | Jeronimo Vazquez , Veracruz Pigmy Salamander Thorius pennatulus | Sandoval Comte ; ( Bottom ) Mexican Alligator Lizard Abronia graminea | Luis Canseco