URGENT PROJECTS
BOLIVIA | 340,500 ACRES TO PROTECT
Protect Rare Amphibians in the Tropical Andes
Stretching from Venezuela and Colombia in the north to the northern reaches of Argentina and Chile in the south, the Tropical Andes Hotspot supports approximately 30,000 plant species, half of which are endemic. It is home to 2,000 bird species, 600 mammal species, and more than 1,120 species of amphibians. It is undeniably the most diverse of the world’ s biodiversity hotspots.
In partnership with Conservation International, this Rainforest Trust project will safeguard 340,500 acres of critical habitat within the Tropical Andes Hotspot. These protections will secure essential acres for several critically endangered frogs, including the entirety of the known range for Microkayla ankohuma— a frog species so rare it lacks a common name— and much of the remaining habitat for the McDiarmid’ s Rocket Frog, which some scientists fear may be extinct or desperately close to becoming so.
Telmatobius verrucosus, one of many amphibian species that live in the project area | JOSÉ M. PADIAL
MEXICO | 1,790,000 ACRES TO PROTECT
Worthen’ s Sparrow | PEDRO GUEVARA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Preserve Mexico’ s High Biodiversity Mountains
Threatened by encroaching agriculture, livestock grazing, and mining and other resource extraction, the arid grasslands of Mexico’ s northeastern Nuevo León state are among the most threatened ecosystems in North America. They are also among the last sanctuaries for Endangered Mexican Prairie Dogs and Worthen’ s Sparrows— both of which are endemic to the region— and are of vital importance to many species of migratory grassland birds.
With partner Pronatura Noreste, this Rainforest Trust project will establish four state nature reserves to protect a total of 1,790,000 acres, safeguarding much of Nuevo León’ s remaining unprotected grasslands, as well as desert shrublands and primary forests. In addition to Endangered Mexican Prairie Dogs and Worthen’ s Sparrows, these four reserves will secure essential habitat for Endangered Maroon-fronted Parrots, Military Macaws, more than a dozen threatened reptile and amphibian species, and the Mexican Black Bear, which is endangered in Mexico.
The largest of these reserves will also strengthen and effectively expand the 1.37-millionacre Monarch Butterfly Migratory Corridor of the Sierra Madre Oriental Protected Area, which was established with CAF support in 2022 to protect essential migratory habitat for Monarch butterflies. The two reserves will share a border, almost doubling the amount of protected habitat available to migrating butterflies in the region.
URGENT PROJECTS
These projects are raising funds to protect vital habitat for Giant Anteaters, migratory birds, and more.