Cool Earth is Europe’s fastest growing rainforest charity, protecting forest that without our intervention would be destroyed within the next 18 months. Our community led projects in Peru and Ecuador are conserving 200,000 acres of endangered rainforest with further projects in Brazil and Indonesia. Cool Earth is supported by over 140,000 individuals as well as being endorsed by expert environmentalists, David Attenborough, Professor James Lovelock and Sir Nicholas Stern. We also work with leading brands such as Tropicana, Brother and Red Sky Crisps (Walkers) making sure their customers are part of the solution to cutting CO2 emissions through avoided deforestation.

The simple idea behind Cool Earth is that rainforests are worth much more to the planet left standing than they are cut down:

• We put the money in a local trust and make the communities there the legal custodians of this land.
• Through community rangers and satellite imagery we monitor and protect the rainforest from any illegal activity around the clock.
• By supporting schools, clinics and sustainable jobs, Cool Earth makes sure forest protection goes hand in hand with better lives.

Deforestation accounts for around 20% of all man-made CO2 emissions, that’s more emissions than the entire global transport sector. Rainforest play a vital role in stabilising our climate, providing freshwater, regulating our weather systems and producing oxygen. Their survival is essential to the planet’s survival.

Triple Bottom Line Benefits

Environmental: Cool Earth protects rainforest which is rich in biodiversity with each acre locking in around 260 tonnes of carbon dioxide which if destroyed would be released into the atmosphere. As Cool Earth conserves rainforest at imminent risk of destruction our work is key to challenging climate change. But the environmental benefits are greater still. Rainforests help regulate our global weather patterns, they produce around 20% of the globe’s fresh water, around a fifth of the planet’s oxygen and two thirds of the world’s plant and animal species many of which still lie undiscovered.

Social: Cool Earth’s projects are all community led putting the indigenous people at the heart of conservation. Through providing better healthcare, sustainable employment, supporting education and securing indigenous land rights Cool Earth enables rainforest people to make a better living from protecting the forest, preserving centuries of culture and tradition.

Economic: Cool Earth enables local people to earn a better income from sustainable employment programmes than selling trees for commercial use. Helping to develop the production of cacao and coffee and opening up access to markets has strengthened the local economy. Rainforests are home to some 300 million people with 1.6 billion people dependent on them for their livelihoods.

A good investment

Cool Earth only spends 10% of donations on admin and governance making sure every penny in the pound is working as hard as possible for the environment. With 260 tonnes of CO2 locked up in every acre it makes good sense to invest in the rainforest rather than a simple carbon offset. Especially as Cool Earth thinks strategically. We conserve rainforest that will act as a protective barrier to swathes of interior pristine land, so your donations stretches much further than the initial forest you’ve sponsored.

We keep our donors updated on how their funds are being spent and map their rainforest on Google so you can view exactly where your protected plot is. As Cool Earth’s projects are community led, you’re not just conserving the forest and the many species of plants and animals that exist there, you’re also supporting the indigenous peoples along with centuries of ancient cultures and traditions. Their stories become your stories as we work together to conserve a global resource.