 |
About Us |
|
Forest aid came into being to offer a workable commercial solution to rainforest destruction
Illegal logging accounts for a large percentage of deforestation and more controls need to be put into place. However the largest percentage of deforestation is caused by people clearing forests to grow crops and raise cattle. This form of forest clearance is called Slash and Burn and is the most devastating to the forest eco-systems as well as causing the most pollution.
It is no good asking someone to stop clearing Rainforests to grow crops for their family; they will starve - what alternative do they have? It is no good asking governments to stop granting logging companies rights to clear forests. Huge profits can be made from lumber and the government is paid for the natural resource.
The forest is their natural resource as oil is to other countries. We all need their resource for stabilising global weather and other benefits such as future medicines, preserving life, plants, flowers, animals and insects.
The problem is a global one and a commercial one. We are happy to pay countries for oil which pollutes the atmosphere but our perception keeps us blind to the value of a living forest, which gives us oxygen to breathe, removes CO2 from the atmosphere and has a stabilising influence on our weather. Scientists have proof that destroying the forests is killing off complex Eco systems, which have taken thousands of years to evolve.
Forest Aid's mission as a non-profit making organisation is raising funds from people, companies and governments worldwide to lease and manage rainforests
-
To secure lease agreements with the governments in the equatorial belt. Leasing forests and managing them for future generations, making use of local knowledge by employing indigenous people to manage their forests.
-
Instigate a worldwide leasing and reforestation programme, managing and monitoring the new forests as carbon traps.
-
Over an acre a second is being lost to deforestation world wide
-
Trees store CO2 while growing. This is released back into the atmosphere when they are burnt.
-
New growth forests trap larger amounts of CO2 each year while growing