Cool Earth, Save the Rainforest
Cool Earth, Save the Rainforest
Submitted by Ina Woolcott
In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York. That’s about 100 acres cleared every minute to create farmland for crops such as soya or palm oil, or for cattle ranching. It’s not difficult to understand why this happens. Soya, beef and palm oil prices are rising and landowners can make quick profits. But these are short-term gains. Rainforest soil is thin and fragile. Once cleared, its goodness is gone in five years.
On a global scale, turning rainforests into timber and farmland makes no sense at all, environmentally or financially. Rainforest has an international carbon value far in excess of its farming worth, and when managed sustainably it can generate a good income for the local economy. This is where you – and Cool Earth – come in…
Cool Earth is a charity that protects endangered rainforest. This combats global warming, protects ecosystems and provides sustainable jobs for local people. Cool Earth grew from a meeting of minds between Frank Field and Johan Eliasch. Frank is a true social reformer and Johan is one of the world’s most successful business people who decided to put his money where his mouth is and protect 400,000 acres of Amazonian rainforest by buying it from a logging company.
With your money, Cool Earth secures threatened rainforest. We put it in a local trust, and help protect it around the clock to keep the carbon where it belongs. We employ local people to do the work, helping them to get income from the forest without cutting it down and make sure the rainforest is worth more standing.
Rainforests are made of living carbon - more than 260 tonnes are locked away in each acre. Destroying them releases more climate warming CO2 each year than the entire USA.
To find out more and to donate or sponsor rainforest follow the link Cool Earth
Related link:
Guardians of the Forest
Filed under: Environment | Green Issues on August 11th, 2008
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