Forests in Crisis:
We have long taken our forests for granted, assuming they are inexhaustible in their capacity to regulate climate, harbor biodiversity, provide clean water, replenish aquifers, mitigate natural hazards, and cradle indigenous cultures. We were wrong.
Deforestation contributes significantly to climate change by releasing stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reducing the Earth’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases, exacerbating global warming. The loss of habitat drives extinctions and the destruction of forests erodes human health.
Unrelenting population growth, consumption, and deforestation have severely hindered their ability to sustain human populations and biodiversity at the local, regional, and global scale. Now is the time to save forests.
1. Forests Protect Biodiversity
Among forests, the tropics have the greatest biodiversity on the planet. In fact, while tropical forests comprise only 6% of the world’s surface area, they contain one-half to three-quarters of the earth’s species of plants and animals.
The incredible biodiversity in tropical forests is due to their stable, warm climate and abundant rainfall, which provide optimal conditions for a vast array of species to thrive, making them the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth.
Deforestation is driving extinctions by destroying habitats and fragmenting ecosystems, leading to the loss of biodiversity and threatening the survival of many species dependent on forest environments.
2. Forests Regulate Climate
Forests play a critical role in regulating climate by absorbing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and storing it in trees and soil, helping to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global temperatures. Deforestation releases this carbo back into the atmosphere and eradicates important carbon storage services.
Large-scale tropical reforestation could make a huge dent in carbon emissions. Theoretically, we could offset about a third of global emissions from all sources by planting trees. Planting trees to restore degraded areas of tropical moist forests soaks up an average of about 26 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare each year for at least 20 years.
Very roughly, help us plant a hectare of trees, and you will offset your carbon emissions for 20 years — and indeed likely much longer. Help us save forests today.
3. Forests Sustain Human Health
Connections between forests, human health, and biodiversity are well established.1 These connections include ‘ecosystem services’ that are essential to human our survival.
Healthy forests with extensive root systems absorb water and bind the soil of sloping land to reduce flooding and prevent catastrophic landslides. Moreover, plant biomass reduces evaporation, while aquatic plants filter and purify water. This is why we must come together to save forests.
1.Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity. Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, editors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. (Pimm wrote the book’s first chapter)
Our Reforestation Projects
We are working to create 13 wildlife corridors in 5 countries – Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Tanzania. We have restored and protected 9,673 acres of degraded land with native trees. Below we showcase three areas where we work with local partners to build a better future for people and wildlife.
Brazil
Brazil's Atlantic Forest is home to 60% of Brazil's endangered species. Centuries of exploitation whittled away 95%. Housing developments threaten what's left.
Colombia
The tropical Andes are extremely vulnerable. Colombia could lead the world in climate-driven extinctions. Commercial agriculture is driving deforestation.
Sumatra
This is the last refuge where Sumatran rhinos, elephants, tigers, and orangutans co-exist. Human-wildlife conflicts and poaching threaten their survival.
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