Letter from Our CEO
For Rainforest Trust , 2022 brought extraordinary growth in impact against the backdrop of a challenging fundraising climate .
We awarded $ 61 million in new grants to organizations across the tropics and subtropics to support the creation or expansion of protected and conserved areas critical to saving species from extinction , safeguarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples , and fighting climate change . When completed , these projects will protect an astonishing 13,985,590 acres and 1,341 IUCN Red List threatened species and lock up 1.5 billion metric tons of CO 2 equivalents , putting us on track to reach our 2025 goals .
Our ongoing projects performed well , too , with over 6 million acres in new protected or conserved areas legally designated and protected ( an area the size of Vermont ), the third highest amount in our history . Some of the irreplaceable ecosystems saved include critical areas in the Amazon rainforests , mangroves in Cuba , miombo woodlands in Zambia and coral reefs of Indonesia .
Our fundraising plateaued and dipped from 2021 as falling markets and soaring inflation impacted giving . Nevertheless , together you contributed $ 39 million , the third highest value in our history — and we are deeply thankful to every donor who sacrificed to support our mission .
We were able to further strengthen our board and staff — the drivers of our future impact . With board rotation chipping in , we welcomed four new members with diverse and stellar backgrounds from finance to technology , journalism to conservation . And with our staff now fully remote , we were able to recruit global experts based in the field to develop new projects and programs in Africa , Asia , and Latin America and the Caribbean .
As the year drew to a close , we were cheered by two pieces of good news that inspired us to be optimistic about the future and challenged us to continue to grow our impact . First , 196 nations unanimously agreed that , by 2030 , close to a third of the world ’ s lands and waters must be formally protected for nature — putting Rainforest Trust ’ s mission at the very center of the global conservation agenda , where it belongs . And second , Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was voted back in as president of Brazil where he pledged to end all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2030 and to lock up as much undesignated land as possible during his four-year term .
These developments within Rainforest Trust and in the wider world mean that we now have the most ambitious pipeline of projects we have ever had , more critical projects than we can fund with existing resources . Thus , every single gift will make possible vital conservation that would not happen otherwise . Our work is cut out for us , and the opportunity for you , our supporters , to change the world has never been greater . Stay with us on this incredible journey , and thank you !
For the rainforests ,
Dr . James C . Deutsch , Chief Executive Officer
4 Rainforest Trust 2022 Annual Report