Supermodel Lily Cole launches Sky rainforest rescue

Climate Crunch | Supermodel Lily Cole launches Sky rainforest rescue
Sky today launched a three-year campaign with WWF to help save one billion trees in the Amazon.

The campaign, Sky Rainforest Rescue, aims to protect rainforest covering over three million hectares in the state of Acre, Brazil to help combat climate change and preserve the unique habitat and species of the Amazon.

The world’s rainforests are a crucial resource needed to avoid dangerous climate change. But today in the Amazon alone an area the size of three football pitches is destroyed every minute. If current rates of deforestation continue, over half of all our rainforests will disappear by 2030.

Deforestation is already causing more greenhouse gas emissions than all the planes, trains, ships and cars in the world put together. Loss of tropical forests is also threatening the habitat of over 50% of the world’s species and the welfare of some of the world’s poorest populations.

Sky and WWF want to work with the British public to help stop the destruction. They are calling for donations at www.sky.com/rainforestrescue, with every £10 helping to save 500 trees. To kick start the project, Sky will match donations pound for pound, up to a joint target of £4 million. WWF and Sky are also in discussion with funding bodies with the aim of securing further financial support for the project.

Lily Cole, who was today in Kew Gardens, home to a number of tree species indigenous to the Amazon, to launch the project, comments: “It’s hard to appreciate the importance of the rainforest because it seems so far away but it’s vital to the survival of the planet as we know it. The destruction of the rainforest is having a huge impact on our climate and on the millions of animal and plant species and the millions of people who live there. It’s important we act now, so help make a difference by donating just £10 and help save 500 trees.”

BAFTA© award winning Sky1 documentary maker Ross Kemp will visit the Amazon rainforest to investigate the reality of deforestation for two documentaries to be broadcast on Sky1 HD in early 2010.

The documentaries are an example of the wide range of rainforest-focused programming that Sky and its channel partners will broadcast across the duration of the campaign. The first programmes to hit the air include ‘Children of the Amazon’ (on Sky 1 and Sky Anytime) and ‘Rivers and Life’ (on Nat Geo Wild HD and Sky Anytime), part of Sky’s ‘Rainforest Week’, which starts on Monday 26 October 2009.

David Nussbaum, Chief Executive of WWF-UK, added: “Deforestation is not only threatening the survival of species and habitats but is also exacerbating the devastating effects of climate change. WWF and Sky together with the help of the public, can take real steps to halt rainforest destruction, benefit communities and provide a blueprint for future forest management.”

Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive, said: “With an area the size of three football pitches destroyed every minute in the Amazon alone, there is no time to lose. We’re asking everyone to join us to help stop this destruction by donating to Sky Rainforest Rescue. To kick start the project we’re committing to match your donation pound for pound until we reach our target of £4 million.”

Working with the State Government of Acre, Sky and WWF aim to create economic incentives for the local communities that help make the trees worth more alive than dead. The project will enhance Acre’s monitoring capabilities against threats including illegal logging and forest clearance; help local producers to secure fair prices and find new market opportunities for sustainable goods; and establish payments for environmental services, including support for community enterprises. The initial phase will comprise research and consultation with local groups, before a pilot project is launched in 2010, which will then be grown to scale.

Acre is a state in the north west of Brazil. Almost 90% of the region is covered by dense tropical and bamboo forest that support one of the richest concentrations of species on earth, including jaguars, harpy eagles, pink river dolphins, scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, giant otters and black caiman.

For further information, or to make a donation, please visit: www.sky.com/rainforestrescue.

Filed under: Nature