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Fighting Climate Change

Halt rainforest destruction to keep carbon stored away

Rainforest Climate Action Fund

Take a stand for our planet and donate to our Rainforest Climate Action Fund to support projects that protect forests which cost-effectively store and sequester vast quantities of carbon.

Fight Climate ChangeFight Climate Change

Rainforests store billions of tons of carbon

We cannot stop climate change without saving tropical forests. If tropical deforestation were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States. Yet, in spite of this destruction, the tropical forests that remain still remove twice this quantity of CO2 equivalents from the atmosphere each year.

We need to halt deforestation now both to keep historical carbon safely locked up in the wood and soil and to keep removing excess CO2 equivalents from the air.

Combating climate change by saving tropical forests is extraordinarily cost-effective. Many of our projects protect forests for as little as $5-10 per acre. Protecting tropical forests is one of the best ways each of us can fight climate change right now.

The most cost-effective way to stop climate change

Tropical forests not only store carbon, they actively remove it from the air. Without their critical function, we will never halt climate change. Rainforest Trust’s mission since our founding has been to safeguard these landscapes, preventing deforestation and keeping carbon stored.

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Explore Forest Types

Rainforests store and sequester vast quantities of carbon. We fight to keep carbon stored and stop climate change by supporting high-impact projects in three types of forest:

Frontier Forests

These forests massively reduce carbon emissions in the immediate future because they protect forest in imminent danger of destruction—a so-called "frontier" providing a protective barrier, keeping dense forest intact.

mangrove forest

Super-Sequesterers

Forests inundated by water are particularly efficient sequesterers because the water blocks the oxygen required for carbon-releasing decomposition. These include flooded forests, swamp forests, peat forests and mangroves.

Rainforest from an aerial view.

Carbon Vaults

These forests lock up carbon in large, tall, intact hardwood forests in perpetuity for a reasonable cost. These large trees store vast amounts of carbon in their wood, roots and soil, preventing huge amounts of carbon from being released.

Save rainforests, help stop climate change

Chameleon

Each of these projects has been identified as crucial to storing carbon and stopping climate change.

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Success Stories

Saving real acres of rainforest

Rainforest Trust has my highest respect... for its reserve-creating projects which have the exceptional merit of being based upon biological research of high quality, exact mapping, and clear statements of what support will accomplish.

The late E.O. Wilson
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and former Rainforest Trust Board Member

“Halting and reversing biodiversity loss and climate change requires expanded protected and conserved areas, especially in tropical forests—this has been Rainforest Trust’s mission for over 30 years,” said James C. Deutsch, Ph.D., CEO of Rainforest Trust. “Developing nations and Indigenous Peoples need financing to achieve this, which is why we are pledging to more than double our level of funding between now and 2030 and urging other private and public funders to do the same.”

Dr. James Deutsch
CEO, Rainforest Trust

"Rainforest Trust has my highest respect and in my opinion deserves support for its reserve-creating projects which have exceptional merit of being based upon biological research of high quality, exact mapping, and clear statements of what support will accomplish."

The late E.O. Wilson
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and former Rainforest Trust Board Member

Rainforest Trust has my highest respect... for its reserve-creating projects which have the exceptional merit of being based upon biological research of high quality, exact mapping, and clear statements of what support will accomplish.

The late E.O. Wilson
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and former Rainforest Trust Board Member

“Halting and reversing biodiversity loss and climate change requires expanded protected and conserved areas, especially in tropical forests—this has been Rainforest Trust’s mission for over 30 years.”

James C. Deutsch, Ph.D.
CEO of Rainforest Trust

“Halting and reversing biodiversity loss and climate change requires expanded protected and conserved areas, especially in tropical forests—this has been Rainforest Trust’s mission for over 30 years.”

James C. Deutsch, Ph.D.
CEO of Rainforest Trust

“Protecting land is the critical first step in halting extinctions and stabilizing our climate. It can only happen through partnerships, and Rainforest Trust is committed to helping replicate this success worldwide.”

James Deutsch
PhD, CEO, Rainforest Trust