SOUTH AMERICA The tropical rainforest is home to the most diverse range of plants and animals on earth.
As globally important storehouses of carbon, forests play a critical role in influencing the Earth's
climate. Forest plants and soils drive the global carbon cycle by sequestering carbon dioxide
through photosynthesis and releasing it through respiration.
Partner:
TReeS (Tambopata Reserve Society)
Initiative:
to support preservation of forest resources in the Tambopata National
Reserve, a 'biodiversity hotspot'
Deforestation Releases Stored Carbon
In many parts of the world, forests are being rapidly cleared for agriculture or pasture, destructively logged and mined, and degraded by human-set fires. When forests are
cleared, their stored carbon is released back to the atmosphere. Tropical deforestation
is responsible for approximately 20% of total human-caused carbon dioxide emissions
each year, and is a primary driver of the extinction of forest species.
"The Tambopata region of southeastern Amazaonian Peru," says FOC International Chairman Jorie Butler Kent, "is arguably the most bio-diverse on the planet, and
endangered from illegal logging, oil and gas prospecting, mining, and unsustainable
farming practices."
One of the least populated and least developed regions of the Amazon, it is endangered
from illegal logging, oil and gas prospecting, mining, and unsustainable farming practices. Our local partners, TReeS, are working with the Ese Eja, the indigenous inhabitants
of the region, to prevent further forest destruction with the development of alternative sources of income, environmental education and the promotion of community initiatives
on development problems.
In this well-established tourist area, funding will develop and assist community projects
that earn income from environmentally friendly tourism through income-generating handicraft projects, small-scale honey production and traditional farming methods.
