YEAR IN REVIEW
SAVING OUR SPECIES SAVING OUR PLANET
When the new year rang in on January 1st , we all hoped the coronavirus would soon be on the run . It hasn ’ t quite turned out that way and the global pandemic continues to pose both personal and professional challenges to people around the world . When people and institutions experience a prolonged crisis , other life forms invariably suffer .
The loss of habitat , biodiversity collapse and climate change are interconnected issues . This year was declared a “ code red for humanity ” by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , but for decades , other species have been feeling the negative impact of ours , Homo sapiens , upon the planet . Forests have been fragmented , destroyed and completely erased from existence , releasing centuries worth of stored carbon into the atmosphere . Pollution from mining and resource extraction have poisoned waters and land . Our ever-expanding footprint on the planet threatens the survival of all species .
We can choose to sit idly by as species after species goes extinct and our planet dies , or we can act .
Rainforest Trust ’ s mission for over 30 years has been to save species by protecting threatened tropical habitat through strong partnerships and engaging local communities around the world . It turns out that saving species is also key to solving the climate crisis — healthy forests , healthy planet .
This year , working with our local partners , Rainforest Trust has protected over 2.8 million acres of threatened land and coastal waters — an area 2.5 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park — in Africa , Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean . Within these landscapes , more than 480 threatened species are now protected including the Endangered Amazon River Dolphin , the Critically Endangered Large-antlered Muntjac , Blue-billed Curassow and African Forest Elephant . These acres also kept 484 million metric tons of carbon stored safely in the Earth .
The stories found in this newsletter celebrate our shared impact for species , for the planet and for people . We couldn ’ t do this without you - thank you !