Donations
You can donate either by using the PayPal widget on this page or by check. We prefer that you send us a check instead of using PayPal because PayPal takes a percentage of your donation. To assure your entire donation goes to the World Rainforest Fund, please make your check out to World Rainforest Fund, and mail it to:
World Rainforest Fund
1888 Pomar Way
Walnut Creek, California 94598-1424
We will send you a thank you letter, which you can use for purposes of a tax deduction. If you send us a check by mail, please include a note with your email, so we can save trees and expenses by emailing you your tax-deduction thank you letter.
We will not send you newsletters or constant appeals for funds. We are not a membership organization, and we believe in spending your money on saving rainforest, not a large number of mailings to you.
World Rainforest Fund
1888 Pomar Way
Walnut Creek, California 94598-1424
We will send you a thank you letter, which you can use for purposes of a tax deduction. If you send us a check by mail, please include a note with your email, so we can save trees and expenses by emailing you your tax-deduction thank you letter.
We will not send you newsletters or constant appeals for funds. We are not a membership organization, and we believe in spending your money on saving rainforest, not a large number of mailings to you.
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Why Should You Donate to the World Rainforest Fund?
The World Rainforest Fund saves biodiversity. Biodiversity can be defined for the purpose of this write-up as the number of species of animals and plants in an ecosystem. The earth is undergoing a great crisis of mass extinction of species and loss of biodiversity. It is caused by humans, and the leading cause is habitat destruction. The Fund works to stop habitat destruction. We lose huge numbers of species each year. Species are going extinct at a rate that is 100 to 1,000 times greater than the normal background extinction rate (1). The renowned evolutionary biologist, Dr. Edward O. Wilson, said in 2002 that if current extinction rates continue, one half of all species on earth will be extinct in 100 years (2). Biodiversity is crucial to human welfare. Many of our medicines and industrial chemicals come from living organisms. Life stabilizes local and global climate. It holds the soil in place, preventing erosion. It is the source of our food supply. It is a source of beauty, spiritual rejuvenation, tourism, and scientific knowledge. And life has a right to exist for its own sake—we have a moral obligation not to destroy species.
We save biodiversity in ecosystems that have the vast majority of it. Rainforests are home to half the land species on earth. They are a major source of biodiversity. They have more species of animals and plants than any other terrestrial ecosystem on earth. Tropical rainforests are being destroyed at the rate of 300 acres per minute worldwide (3, 4). This is equivalent to the loss of an area half the size of the state of California annually.
We save rainforests where they are most abundant in a continuous area, and where the preservation of them will last with the highest probability. We save rainforests in the Amazon Basin. The largest area of intact rainforest is the Amazon Basin. We sometimes have projects to save rainforests in other countries, but we focus on Brazil. The country with most rainforest is Brazil. Saving the area on earth with the most continuous rainforest will have the longest lasting effect. It is especially effective because this strategy saves the most corridors connecting areas where species live. Animals need corridors to keep their genetic diversity high enough to allow their survival. Without corridors, animal populations get isolated and undergo inbreeding, which can drive the species extinct due to lack of genetic variability.
We use the most effective strategy to save rainforests. We empower indigenous people to help them save their rainforest homes. Scientific studies have shown that the most effective way to save rainforests is by empowering the indigenous people who live in them to save their rainforest homes (1, 2). It saves the most rainforest land per dollar spent, and saves rainforest in the way that has the highest chance of lasting permanently. This is because tropical countries tend not to have the money to hire a sufficient number of guards to protect rainforests in national parks. Amazonia National Park in Brazil has only six rangers to protect its 3,300 square miles (8,600 square kilometers). Thus, poachers come in and shoot wildlife, cut trees, and mine minerals illegally in these national parks. On the other hand, indigenous people are natural guardians who live in the rainforests, passionately want to protect them, and do not even require a salary.
The World Rainforest Fund is exceptionally effective and efficient--among the best of any non-profit--at putting your donation to work at its stated mission. All members of our board of directors and board of advisors, and many of our staff, are volunteers, drawing no salary. The organization is a non-membership organization, so no money is spent on newsletters or other expenses incurred by membership organizations; money that would otherwise be spent in these areas is instead put directly to work on saving rainforests. A greater percentage of money we receive from our donors goes to actually carrying out our stated mission, as opposed to administration and other costs, than is the case with the vast majority of other non-profit organizations. In fact, over ninety per cent of the proceeds we receive go directly to work saving the earth's rainforests. Our track record of helping indigenous people, giving grants to organizations that save rainforest, educating the public on the need to save rainforests, and saving rainforests through partnering with other organization dedicated to saving rainforests is exceptionally impressive. We are a 501c3, tax-exempt, public non-profit organization. All donations you give are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Our advisory board has many well-known, distinguished people. Our staff and workers are highly knowledgeable and exceptionally dedicated.
References
1. Nepstad, D., Schwartzman, S., Bamberger, B., Santilli, M., Ray, D., Schelsinger, P., Lefebvre, P., Alencar, A., Prinz, E., Fiske, G., and Rolla, A. (February, 2006). Inhibition of Amazon Deforestation and Fire by Parks and Indigenous Lands. Conservation Biology, Volume 20, Number 1: 65-73.
2. Porter-Bolland, L., Ellis, E. A., Guariguata, M. A., Ruiz-Mallén, I., Negrete-Yankelevich, S., Reyes-García, V. (2011). Community managed forests and forest protected areas: An assessment of their conservation effectiveness across the tropics. Forest Ecology and Management. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.05.034. Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco.
We save biodiversity in ecosystems that have the vast majority of it. Rainforests are home to half the land species on earth. They are a major source of biodiversity. They have more species of animals and plants than any other terrestrial ecosystem on earth. Tropical rainforests are being destroyed at the rate of 300 acres per minute worldwide (3, 4). This is equivalent to the loss of an area half the size of the state of California annually.
We save rainforests where they are most abundant in a continuous area, and where the preservation of them will last with the highest probability. We save rainforests in the Amazon Basin. The largest area of intact rainforest is the Amazon Basin. We sometimes have projects to save rainforests in other countries, but we focus on Brazil. The country with most rainforest is Brazil. Saving the area on earth with the most continuous rainforest will have the longest lasting effect. It is especially effective because this strategy saves the most corridors connecting areas where species live. Animals need corridors to keep their genetic diversity high enough to allow their survival. Without corridors, animal populations get isolated and undergo inbreeding, which can drive the species extinct due to lack of genetic variability.
We use the most effective strategy to save rainforests. We empower indigenous people to help them save their rainforest homes. Scientific studies have shown that the most effective way to save rainforests is by empowering the indigenous people who live in them to save their rainforest homes (1, 2). It saves the most rainforest land per dollar spent, and saves rainforest in the way that has the highest chance of lasting permanently. This is because tropical countries tend not to have the money to hire a sufficient number of guards to protect rainforests in national parks. Amazonia National Park in Brazil has only six rangers to protect its 3,300 square miles (8,600 square kilometers). Thus, poachers come in and shoot wildlife, cut trees, and mine minerals illegally in these national parks. On the other hand, indigenous people are natural guardians who live in the rainforests, passionately want to protect them, and do not even require a salary.
The World Rainforest Fund is exceptionally effective and efficient--among the best of any non-profit--at putting your donation to work at its stated mission. All members of our board of directors and board of advisors, and many of our staff, are volunteers, drawing no salary. The organization is a non-membership organization, so no money is spent on newsletters or other expenses incurred by membership organizations; money that would otherwise be spent in these areas is instead put directly to work on saving rainforests. A greater percentage of money we receive from our donors goes to actually carrying out our stated mission, as opposed to administration and other costs, than is the case with the vast majority of other non-profit organizations. In fact, over ninety per cent of the proceeds we receive go directly to work saving the earth's rainforests. Our track record of helping indigenous people, giving grants to organizations that save rainforest, educating the public on the need to save rainforests, and saving rainforests through partnering with other organization dedicated to saving rainforests is exceptionally impressive. We are a 501c3, tax-exempt, public non-profit organization. All donations you give are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Our advisory board has many well-known, distinguished people. Our staff and workers are highly knowledgeable and exceptionally dedicated.
References
1. Nepstad, D., Schwartzman, S., Bamberger, B., Santilli, M., Ray, D., Schelsinger, P., Lefebvre, P., Alencar, A., Prinz, E., Fiske, G., and Rolla, A. (February, 2006). Inhibition of Amazon Deforestation and Fire by Parks and Indigenous Lands. Conservation Biology, Volume 20, Number 1: 65-73.
2. Porter-Bolland, L., Ellis, E. A., Guariguata, M. A., Ruiz-Mallén, I., Negrete-Yankelevich, S., Reyes-García, V. (2011). Community managed forests and forest protected areas: An assessment of their conservation effectiveness across the tropics. Forest Ecology and Management. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.05.034. Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco.
