What do the Rainforest Trust do?
It is estimated that the construction industry is responsible for 25% of all rainforest destruction. Approximately 60% of global timber goes towards construction, and 80% of agricultural land loss is for buildings. We want to make a difference.
At EnviroBuild, we are passionate about sustainable living and helping our environment. It is so important, now more than ever, to improve the world in which we live to sustainably maintain our environment into a future that is flourishing, healthy and secure. That is why we are on an environmental mission; looking to supply products with a high recycled content, long working life, recyclability potential and an environmental manufacturing process where possible.
We also donate 10% of all profits to the Rainforest Trust to help save our rapidly disappearing forests, and to offset the carbon footprint of our production process.
The Rainforest Trust is a non-profit charity that helps to preserve Earth’s remaining rainforests through community engagement and local partnerships, in vulnerable areas around the world.
The Challenge
Rainforests are the pinnacle of life’s variety and complexity; they are the most diverse places on our planet, but 80,000 acres are destroyed every day. This has detrimental consequences that are felt around the world, negatively affecting atmospheric balance, human health and endurance, plant life and animal survival, amongst others.
The Solutions
The Rainforest Trust protects millions of acres of rainforest to make sure that our planet remains thriving for future generations. Protecting these ecosystems enables the further protection of the threatened species that inhabit them. Since starting in 1988, they have contributed to the protection of over 23 million acres across the globe, with millions more in progress. By 2020, they aim to be working towards the security of 50 million acres.
The charity focuses their efforts around three main protected area types:
- Land acquisition
- Land designation
- Community-managed areas
Land acquisition is the simplest and fastest approach to rainforest conservation, working with local partners to purchase land, which is then converted into private nature reserves. This process can be arranged promptly, making it a good way to prevent any imminent threats or hazards. With a legal land title, the Rainforest Trust can obtain complete control over areas, offering a secure form of rainforest protection.
Land designation involves a longer process to achieve control and subsequent protection over areas of rainforest. However, it allows the Rainforest Trust to secure much larger areas than land acquisition, involving millions of acres of rainforest space. The charity negotiates complex legalities, working with both governments and communities to create national parks and public reserves.
Community-managed areas can also be slow to establish but are fairly inexpensive and can cover vast landscapes. This is a bottom-up participatory approach, led by native people, to secure communal lands. These spaces are occupied by indigenous communities who rely on the land for their survival and protect it in return.
However, the establishment of a new protected area is just the beginning of the crucial conversation process. Long-term management plans are supported by local men and women, many of whom are trained as fellows, guardians, wildlife monitors and ecotourism guides. They are at the heart of this long-term conservation effort. The SAVES Challenge (Safeguarding Areas Vital to Endangered Species) is a Rainforest Trust initiative launched in 2016 to establish protected areas, aiming to save the worlds most threatened species. Local partners and researchers are also motivated through the Rapid Protected Feasibility Awards, empowering them to investigate ways through which further protection can be implemented.
Finally, the Rainforest Trust provide inspiration to individuals, groups and organisations, like us at EnviroBuild, to help conserve our valuable environment, and all of the wonderful species that inhabit it.
The Locations
In 2018, the Rainforest Trust worked in 50 different countries, with 102 partner organisations.
The Impact
The carbon secured by the Rainforest Trust in 2018 was equal to the average annual emissions of 40.1 million cars in the United States. In the same year, they saved over 1.28 billion trees, with 1 acre being secured every 16 seconds. Every mammal, fish, bird, reptile, amphibian, insect and plant need the rainforests; even though we often feel quite separated from them, they support life everywhere. Read more about the impressive work of the Rainforest Trust in their Impact Report.
What can you do?
It is important to avoid products that are sourced unsustainably, reducing the exploitation of our planet’s natural resources and lowering the need for logging. You can support the work of the Rainforest Trust by making a donation.
Our Contributions
Since starting donations in 2016, we have donated towards a variety of Rainforest Trust projects, helping to save over 29,031,597 trees across more than 95,000 acres. Our largest donation this year has contributed to land titling in the Amazon, funding enough to cover an area of 56,622 acres. Titling land to indigenous communities will allocate them the right for sustainable natural resource administration, and give them the legal responsibility to secure it against illegal activities. This will help to prevent logging, mining, oil and gas extraction, as well as colonisation for agriculture. Find out more about this project here.
The mission of the Rainforest Trust is incredibly important; protecting vast areas of rainforest, which consequently protects us, alongside every living organism. We are proud to support this cause and share its values.