Save a Tree, Save a Life, Save the World – Support the Rainforest Foundation UK

Thank you for taking an interest in our blog! We are Laura and Blossom, advocating for the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) charity. It was established in 1989, after the rock star Sting and his wife visited the Amazon rainforest and witnessed for themselves the pure destruction going on there. We would like to tell people about this destruction, and how everyone can help prevent it. The problems raised by the deforestation are closer to home than you think:
Although they cover 2% of the world’s surface, the rainforests are home to 50% of the species on Earth. However, every day, approximately 137 species of plants and animals become extinct because of deforestation, with their homes being cut down – approximately 1.5 acres are destroyed every second. That’s the most rapid rate of extinction in the history of the world.

That means that around 50 000 (half a million) species are lost every year.

Scientists have discovered many plants with the cures to diseases in the various rainforests; by cutting them down we are potentially destroying the chances of finding cures for things like cancer or AIDs.

It also greatly affects the indigenous tribes living there (50 million people; 80% of the world’s poorest people depend on the forests), for the worse, with their initial human rights being taken.

If this rate of deforestation continues, by the next 40 years we will have no rainforests left whatsoever.

The RFUK are working to STOP this, by working with the indigenous people whose lifestyles and homes are threatened. They work in over 20 different countries, and are currently working in Peru, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and the Central African Republic. They use the knowledge of the tribes, who have been the ‘rainforest guardians’ for centuries, and the power of the RFUK, to:

• Provide legal support for the boundaries of the tribes’ territories, including mapping the areas and assisting their leaders in negotiations with legal authorities.
• They are currently working on a new law in Congo, protecting the rights of the people living in the forests there – the first law like that in Africa.
• Many of the tribes are living in extreme poverty, like the 40,000 Baka, Bagyeli and Bakola 'Pygmy' people who live in the rainforest regions of Cameroon, so the RFUK is trying to provide their children education, for a better future.
• Administering information on what products contain palm oil (palm oil companies recently destroyed 7 million acres of rainforest).

But they cannot do this all by themselves – they need your help!

Thank you for reading our blog; would you please post a response with your thoughts on how well this blog has informed about the RFUK and the issues of deforestation:

1. Had you heard of the issue of deforestation before?
2. Had you heard of the RFUK before?
3. Do you now feel more informed about both things?
4. Do you feel that deforestation is a prominent issue and must be addressed?
5. Would you now do any of the following things to save the forests and tribes?

• Tell people you know (i.e. family, friends) about deforestation and the RFUK?
• Make a donation to the RFUK? http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Donate%20now
• Fundraise or raise money for the RFUK? http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Get_involved

Also, could you leave your hometown (if in the UK) or country (if not UK)

Again, thank you so much for reading our blog!
Laura and Blossom :)