Monday, June 4, 2012
Rainforest Charity Cool Earth Turns Five
Last Wednesday, rainforest charity Cool Earth celebrated its fifth birthday in the House of Lords. Founded by Johan Eliasch and the Rt. Hon. Frank Field MP in 2007, Cool Earth provides a way for individuals and organizations to protect a piece of rainforest and do something about climate change without having to rely on governments and policies. With projects in Papua New Guinea, the Congo, Ecuador, and Peru, the charity has saved 215,000 acres of rainforest so far.
Spending only less than 10 percent of donations on admin, Cool Earth partners with indigenous communities and acquires legal land tenure for the people who reside in the forest. The charity only protects areas that are in impending danger and would otherwise be cleared without its intervention.
Last week's celebration was hosted by Field, along with actress Pamela Anderson and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. Westwood, who donated one million pounds to the charity earlier this year, said at the event, “If we don't save the rainforest we can forget about it, we won't save the planet.”
Guests included students who had sponsored trees as well as celebrities such as Jerry Hall and Eliza Doolittle. All attendees received a Vivienne Westwood bag, and one contained a golden leaf, which ended up with Doolittle. The leaf served as an invitation to join Cool Earth in a visit to one of its project areas in the Amazon. Doolittle expressed her excitement at the opportunity. “I've always wanted to go out to the rainforest and to get involved. [I] can't wait to get out there.”
Rainforests are home to two-thirds of the world's animal and plant species, and 1.6 billion people depend on them for their livelihoods. As Anderson said, “Saving rainforest really is the important issue and supporting Cool Earth is an effective way to take action.”
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