Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit group in the United States that works to protect tropical and subtropical natural areas. Its goal is to save animals and plants that are in danger of disappearing, stop the cutting down of forests, help reduce the effects of climate change, and support Indigenous and local communities in their efforts to protect nature. The organization helps protect the world’s most fragile and untouched rainforest areas by working with partners in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
History
Rainforest Trust was founded in 1988 and was first called World Parks Endowment. In 2006, World Parks Endowment joined with World Land Trust, an organization based in the United Kingdom, and became known as World Land Trust-US. This partnership helped reduce costs, allowing donations to be used directly for protecting habitats in the field.
On September 16, 2013, World Land Trust-US changed its name to Rainforest Trust. This change reflected the organization’s focus on preserving tropical and subtropical rainforests as part of its mission to protect land and wildlife.
Approach
Rainforests are important because they help protect many different plants and animals, and they help reduce carbon dioxide in the air. However, rainforests are in danger because of cutting down forests, taking natural resources, and changes in the climate. More than 95% of the world’s lost forests happen in tropical regions, mainly because of farming, raising animals, cutting trees for wood, and digging for minerals.
Rainforest Trust helps protect the rainforests that are most in danger by working with partners to: get official protections like national parks, areas for wildlife, and forests managed by local communities; help Indigenous people have the right to own and manage their land; and buy land from private owners to protect it. The organization keeps its conservation work going by teaching and giving tools to local groups so they can watch over the environment and take care of it.
By 2025, Rainforest Trust’s efforts helped protect more than 50 million acres of land and saved homes for almost 3,000 species that are at risk of disappearing. Ninety-nine percent of the protected rainforests are still there, checked using satellite images that show changes in tree cover.
Rainforest Trust’s goal to protect natural areas and wildlife matches a global plan called "30 by 30," which aims to protect 30% of Earth’s lands and oceans by 2030. In 2021, Rainforest Trust joined a group called Protecting Our Planet, which is a $5 billion agreement to help protect biodiversity, announced at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference.
Rainforest Trust received the highest rating from Charity Navigator, a group that checks how well charities work. The organization was given a 4-star rating and a 100% score.
Leadership
Byron Swift was the CEO of the organization from its founding in 1988 until 2012, when Dr. Paul Salaman became the CEO. In 2020, Dr. James C. Deutsch became the CEO. Former Presidents include leading conservation biologists Dr. E.O. Wilson and Dr. Thomas Lovejoy; renowned scientist who studies birds in tropical regions Robert S. Ridgely; Dr. Eric Veach, environmental advocate and pioneer in computer graphics; and Sally F. Davidson, a philanthropist and advocate who supports important causes.