Saturday, March 29, 2014

Joint Earth Day campaign to save Amazon rainforest and create reserve for jaguars

Via PR Newswire - Rainforest Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization focused on saving threatened lands and endangered species, has announced a cause campaign that invites the public to save 100,000 acres of Amazon rainforest that is home to jaguars, giant river otters and other endangered wildlife.

To launch its "Amazon Earth Day" campaign, Rainforest Trust has partnered with Greatergood.org and the Rainforest Site, charitable sites that have raised more than $30 million for non-profits since 1999. The campaign will run from March 28 through Earth Day, April 22.

To raise the $50,000 needed for the campaign, the organizations have issued a call to action to environmental and wildlife supporters to pledge 50 cents an acre. The campaign will also be featured on AOL.com in April as part of the company's "Make a Difference" program, a corporate social responsibility initiative to raise awareness for non-profit organizations.

Rainforest Trust's campaign project is concentrated in the Sierra del Divisor mountain range in the Peruvian Amazon, which faces imminent threats from oil development, road and pipeline construction, and illegal logging. Unchecked, these threats could destroy the area in a matter of years.

To permanently protect the Sierra del Divisor and the biodiverse lands surrounding it, Rainforest Trust is working with its Peruvian partner, CEDIA, to establish two protected areas with a buffer zone of community territories that will ultimately span 5.9 million acres. In total, $2.9 million will be raised over four years to fund these initiatives.

"Protecting the Sierra del Divisor range is crucial for global wildlife, for indigenous peoples and the world," said Dr. Paul Salaman, CEO of Rainforest Trust.

"The Amazon holds two-thirds of the world's fresh water and produces 20% of the planet's air. So it makes sense to focus on it for Earth Day as the well-being of our planet has much to with what happens there. Even small sums of money can have powerful and lasting impacts in this extremely biodiverse area. A donation of $25 can protect 50 acres of Amazon rainforest. Anyone inspired to protect endangered species should find out what just 50 cents can do."

To donate or learn more about this project visit www.rainforesttrust.org/acres-for-50cents 

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