57,116 acres
Cool Earth Action

John Prescott can't save the earth all on his own and that's why I joined Cool Earth.

John Fortune - comedian/satirist, Bremner, Bird & Fortune

Make your donation count!

Cool Earth spends less than 10% of your donations on admin.

Gasping for air

We need the rainforest to breathe. They are the lungs of the world and generate as much as a quarter of the world's oxygen.

Medicine cabinet of the world

Tropical rainforests have been the source of many life-saving drugs including two-thirds of cancer drugs. Future cures will depend on forest conservation.

Rainforests water our lawns

As well as breathing out oxygen, rainforests drive global weather patterns by transpiring water into clouds. No rainforests, no rain.

Where the wild things are

Rainforests are biodiversity hotspots. A small patch of forest can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants and 750 species of tree.

Just one lost acre can wipe out a species

Losing forest means losing irreplaceable species. Every day, 35 species become extinct because of tropical deforestation.

Two lost acres by the time you read this

The world's rainforest took thousands of years to grow. But every second, an acre of rainforest is destroyed.

Protect rainforest: Tackle Climate Change

Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Carbon stored in their wood cannot contribute to global warming.

Once it's gone, it's gone

Once rainforest is cleared and the soil lost, the land usually turns into savannah which is unable to support more than grasses.

Rainforest communities are the best protectors

The best way to protect rainforest is to make sure local people are in control. Cool Earth funds rainforest communities to protect forest.

Help communities earn more from standing forest

How do local communities earn a living from protected rainforest? Rubber tapping is a traditional income source that needs conserved forest.

The finest coffee beans need rainforest

South America is the largest coffee producer. It is traditionally grown in the shade of other trees so it depends on other rainforest species.

The fruits of pristine forest

Brazil nuts only come from mature, pristine rainforest. Only certain bee species can pollinate them so they cannot be grown in plantations.

Rainforest jewel box

One of the key trade-goods of the Ashaninka people in Peru is beautiful jewellery that Cool Earth helps sell to fund conservation.

Rainforest news

Cool Earth is the leading source of rainforest news - from communities to coffee and from chocolate to carbon.

How can I make a difference?

Sponsoring rainforest with Cool Earth is a unique way to tackle climate change, and with Google Maps you can even see where your money is going.

Rainforest facts

Rainforest inventory. Even though they only 2% of the Earth's surface area, rainforests are home to 50% of plants and animals.

Our projects

Cool Earth is a charity that protects endangered rainforest to combat global warming, protect ecosystems and provide sustainable jobs for local people.

Protect your rainforest!

Please select a rainforest project area in which you can secure land:

Google Maps ad Part of the Guardian Environmental Network. Gift some rainforest

The Resource

Why are rainforests so important?

Cool Earth is a charity that protects endangered rainforest to combat global warming, protect ecosystems and provide sustainable jobs for local people.

Working with partners throughout the Amazon, Cool Earth secures rainforest, helps protect it around the clock and ensures communities benefit from keeping the forest standing. Sponsoring an acre of rainforest with Cool Earth challenges global warming.

Why are rainforests so important? - find out more »

Gasping for air

a red balloon Without the rainforests the Earth would not have enough oxygen or water to support life. Without them, humans wouldn't exist.

Medicine cabinet of the world

assorted pills Less than 1% of rainforest plants have even been tested as medicines so lots more breakthroughs will be found if forest is saved.

Rainforests water our lawns

a leaking garden hose Rainforests act as giant reservoirs, releasing water all year round to support billions of people, and 40% of farms in the developing world.

Where the wild things are

4 animal badges In one of Cool Earth's Peruvian projects there are 1,300 species of butterfly. In comparison there are only 320 species in the whole of Europe.

The Problem

Rainforests under threat

Rainforests are made of living carbon - more than 260 tonnes are locked away in each acre. Destroying them releases more climate warming CO2 each year than the entire USA.

In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York. That’s 100 acres cleared every minute to create short-term farmland for crops such as soya or palm oil, or for cattle ranching.

Rainforests under threat - find out more »

Just one lost acre can wipe out a species

colourful feathers The largest rainforest mammals such as leopards and apes need huge territories so any loss of habitat can affect entire food-chains.

Two lost acres by the time you read this

a yellow digger Rainforests have lush vegetation and towering canopies but their soils are thin. Once the trees are gone, the soil is soon washed away.

Protect rainforest: Tackle Climate Change

a couple of burnt matches on top of a thermometer Rainforests are huge carbon stores. Clearing tropical forests creates a fifth of our CO2 emissions. That's more than the USA or China.

Once it's gone, it's gone

a small plastic cow Cattle are often grazed on this degraded land which adds methane to the carbon dioxide already burnt off. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas.

The Solution

Keeping carbon where it belongs

Unless rainforest is more valuable standing than cut down, the Amazon will be cleared in 50 years. Cool Earth enables individuals and organisations to help protect rainforest and keep carbon where it belongs.

Since 2007 Cool Earth's sponsors around the world have:

  • Protected thousands of acres of endangered rainforest
  • Prevented millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions
  • Conserved many thousands of species at risk of extinction
Keeping carbon where it belongs - find out more »

Sponsor an acre today

sponsor an acre Sponsoring an acre enables Cool Earth to provide round the clock protection . And with Google Maps you can even see your acre.

Rainforest communities are the best protectors

a child's butterfly drawing By supporting schools, clinics and sustainable jobs, Cool Earth makes sure forest protection goes hand in hand with better lives.

Help communities earn more from standing forest

a rubber band ball The rubber tree grows natively in the Amazon and its latex sap is collected by skilled tappers who make careful incisions in the tree's bark.

The finest coffee beans need rainforest

coffee beans Coffee originated in Ethiopia but high quality beans often now come from rainforest regions. The Ashaninka in Peru grow some of the finest.

The fruits of pristine forest

Brazil nuts shelled and unshelled Harvesting brazil nuts is an important source of income that Cool earth supports by investing in processing and marketing.

Rainforest jewel box

beautiful Ashaninka jewellery All of Cool Earth's projects work to make sure living forest is worth more to local communities standing than it is destroyed.

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Our Partners

Our corporate supporters are the smartest in their field and generous with it. Whether you can join up as an individual, school or business you'll be in good company.

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