The world’s rainforests are disappearing faster than ever before. Why that’s important to you and me can be summed up in four words – Wildlife, Climate, People and Planet. 

Every day more than 30,000 hectares of tropical rainforest are lost across the planet, with the same amount damaged and degraded.

The world’s rainforests are disappearing faster than ever before. Why that’s important to you and me can be summed up in four words – Wildlife, Climate, People and Planet.

Every day more than 30,000 hectares of tropical rainforest are lost across the planet, with the same amount damaged and degraded.

According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, overall tropical deforestation rates this decade are 8.5 percent higher than during the 1990s. This is cause for alarm.

That immense rate of deforestation is driving an enormous loss of biodiversity. Scientists estimate we are losing over 100 species every day; animals, plants, insects, with many of them unknown to science. 1.7 million of the world’s species have been described by taxonomists to date, however a recent estimate of the number of species sharing the planet was put at 8.7 million. That’s more than 7 million species yet to be discovered.

This rapid loss of rainforest is also a major contributor to climate change and a warming planet. Rainforests store massive amounts of carbon and when they are destroyed, cut down, burnt or degraded, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. While we must stop burning fossil fuels as a matter of urgency, protecting and restoring the rainforests that we already have is an essential action to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

We know what drives the destruction of rainforest across the globe. The list is long. It includes everything from industrial agriculture and logging to mining and the construction of roads and dams. Then there is the economic reality for millions of people who live in developing countries. Many of the world’s poorest communities live alongside and rely upon the intact rainforest ecosystems for food, shelter, medicine and livelihood. Saving the rainforests must involve improving the lives of people around the world.

That’s why our mission is rainforest conservation for wildlife, climate, people and planet.

Rainforest are important to everyone. Protecting and restoring them is in our own best interest.

Please visit our project page to see how you can take action today. 

Photo credit: Paul Daley

Photo credit: conservationdrones.org