Rainforest Trust
| Formation | December 8, 1988[1] |
|---|---|
| Founded at | New York[1] |
| Headquarters | Warrenton, Virginia, United States |
Revenue (2016) | $15.7 million[2] |
| Website |
www |
Formerly called |
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Rainforest Trust, formerly World Land Trust-US and World Parks Endowment, is a US-based nonprofit environmental organization established December 8, 1988 in New York. In 2006, then World Parks Endowment affiliated itself with World Land Trust, a UK-based nonprofit environmental organization, and became World Land Trust-US, as both organizations were dedicated to minimizing their costs in order to allow donated funds to flow to real habitat conservation projects on the ground.[3] On September 16, 2013, as part of celebrating the organization's 25th anniversary, the World Land Trust-US changed its name to Rainforest Trust.[4]
Rainforest Trust focuses on the purchase and protection of tropical lands that conserve threatened species, working across tropical Asia, Africa, and Latin America. For this purpose, it privately funds the purchase of large tracts of land by local NGO's for the purposes of protecting it, in a fashion similar to the Nature Conservancy by making use of land trusts. The organization also seeks to help in-situ conservation measures by providing training, capital and equipment for environmental stewardship in economically impoverished areas.
Most acres are permanently protected for an average of less than $100 per acre. Since its founding, Rainforest Trust has saved and protected nearly 11,500,000 acres (47,000 km2) of tropical rainforest lands.
Current President Robert S. Ridgely is an expert on neotropical birds, on which he has published several books, is a longtime conservationist, and is the co-discoverer of the jocotoco antpitta. CEO Paul Salaman[5] is also a noted ornithologist and conservationist who has spent his life protecting the tropics. At 19 Paul discovered the choco vireo and sold the scientific naming rights for conservation purposes, raising $75,000. In 1998 Paul was a co-founder of Fundación ProAves in Colombia, one of the most effective conservation organizations in South America.
Project examples
- Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco critical habitat protection in Ecuador,
- Fundación ProAves critical habitat protection in Colombia,
- Asociacion Armonía critical habitat protection in Bolivia,
- Reserva Ecologica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) Brazil Atlantic Rainforest protection,
- Madagasikara Voakajy critical habitat protection in Madagascar,
References
- 1 2 "Certificate of Incorporation of World Parks Endowment, Inc" (PDF). Rainforest Trust. 1988. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "2016 Audited Financials" (PDF). Rainforest Trust. 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "October 2006 - World Parks Endowment becomes World Land Trust-US". World Land Trust-US. October 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-02-20. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ Salaman, Paul (2013). "World Land Trust-US Becomes Rainforest Trust". Rainforest Trust. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
- ↑ "Rainforest Trust". GuideStar Profiles. Retrieved 16 May 2018.