Cool School
New initiative
Become a Cool School and sponsor an acre of endangered rainforest or get a business to help you do it and make your community more carbon positive.
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.
Sponsor an acre today
Save a patch of rainforest. Sponsoring an acre with Cool Earth protects 260 tons of CO2 that will otherwise contribute to climate change.
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.
Age group 5 to 8 years
Rainforests cover only a small patch of the planet but contain over half of the Earth's species of animals and plants. They hold within them lots of things that are useful to us and also have an effect on our weather.
Age group 8 to 16 years
Rainforests cover just over 6% of the Earth's land surface. The major areas of rainforest are found in South America, Africa and South-eastern Asia. The largest of them is called the Amazon and is in South America. It grows across 8 countries and covers 2 million square miles.
