WARRENTON, Va., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Rainforest Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization
focused on saving threatened land and endangered species, has
announced its 2015 Earth Day
campaign, which will focus on conserving threatened
rainforest in central Sumatra.
Working with local Sumatran partner Yayasan Konservasi Ekosistem
Hutan Sumatera, Rainforest Trust will create three protected areas,
totaling 200,396 acres that will conserve lowland rainforest
habitat for critically endangered Sumatran tigers, orangutans and
elephants.
To celebrate Earth Day's 45th anniversary on
April 22, Rainforest Trust plans to
raise $85,000 to protect the first
25,000 acres of the reserve. Thanks to an anonymous pledge, all
donations made for this reserve will be matched. In central
Sumatra, one acre can be protected
for only $3.40.
"Time is quickly running out for Sumatra's threatened wildlife," said Dr.
Paul Salaman, Rainforest Trust CEO.
"We want to energize people on Earth
Day by offering a very real, yet inexpensive option to
protect tigers, elephants, and other endangered species."
Half of Sumatra's forest cover
was destroyed between 1985 and 2008 due to logging and the rapid
expansion of paper, rubber and palm oil plantations. Despite
instituting a moratorium on new logging contracts in 2010,
Indonesia's forests have continued
to disappear. By 2012, deforestation rates outpaced even those of
Brazil. Today, only 25 percent of
the island's original forest remains intact.
As a result, much of the island's fabled biodiversity is now
endangered. Most notably, its endemic species - orangutans, tigers
and elephants – face extinction in the near future if not
protected.
Rainforest Trust's project will take place in the Bukit
Tigapuluh ecosystem, which contains one of Sumatra's most important intact forests. The
area is home to 30 Sumatran tigers. With only 400 still alive in
the wild, protecting this population is critical to saving the
species. Due to its strategic importance, the Bukit Tigapuluh
landscape was declared a "Global Priority Tiger Conservation
Landscape" by leading tiger scientists in 2006.
The area is also home to one of the last intact forests in
Sumatra large enough to support
elephant populations. It's estimated that two herds – roughly 150 –
of these critically endangered Sumatran elephants inhabit the
region.
In addition, 175 orangutans, many of them rescued from the
illegal pet trade and successfully reintroduced into the wild,
dwell in the forest. Other endangered species in the area include
Sun bears, Clouded Leopards, Agile Gibbons, Malayan Tapirs, and
Leopard Cats.
To donate or learn more about this project, visit
https://www.rainforesttrust.org/projects/urgent-appeals/sumatra/.
About Rainforest Trust
Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit
conservation organization focused on saving rainforest and
endangered species in partnership with local conservation leaders
and indigenous communities. Since its founding in 1988, Rainforest
Trust has saved nearly 8 million acres of rainforest and other
tropical habitats and has 85 projects across 22 countries.
Media contacts:
Megan
McMonagle
megan.mcmonagle@rfbinder.com
212-994-7612
Joe Lowe, Rainforest Trust
jlowe@rainforesttrust.org
202-361-0113
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150331/195721
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rainforest-trust-launches-earth-day-campaign-to-save-imperiled-sumatran-wildlife-300058640.html
SOURCE Rainforest Trust