Climate Emergency

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earth day 2020

On April 22nd, the world celebrates <a href="https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Earth Day</a>. This is an annual event aimed at raising awareness for environmental protection. It’s a day of collective participation, educational activities, and campaigning for the planet. This year will be the 50th Earth Day and the theme is climate action. Besides a zillion things you can do at home to save the planet, even in quarantine, there are loads of fun digital events for you to join.

Take action: Join a digital climate event 

Why does the planet need you to act specifically on April 22nd? Well, it doesn’t: it needs you to act every day. Making your life as sustainable as you can, voting for the green party, spreading awareness… your actions impact the world and the environment every day. Earth Day is just a strong reminder of how important your daily decisions are.

Best free digital climate events in the UK 👇

Ready to take action and join in on the fun? From the more than 700 free webinars and other digital meet-ups worldwide, I’ve listed the best free webinars in the UK for you to join.
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<h2>The Great John Cage Project </h2>
<h3>Lockdown Podcast</h3>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 21:00 BST 
Channel: Spotify/ iTunes 
Length: 30 mins
John Cage was an American experimental composer, who’s known for his 4&#8217;33&#8221; silent composition. “Played” by pianist David Tutor at Woodstock in 1952, this piece basically consists of the sounds around you. Cage was into Zen Buddhism, which 4’33” reflects perfectly. It depends on how you look at things, how mindful you are and what frame you use, whether you think something is music or not. Labels are arbitrary, and music, noise, sound or silence are all the same. The composition invites you to embrace your surroundings and be present in the moment.
With this in mind, The Great John Cage Project invites people from all over the world to record the sounds around them while they live in lockdown. The point is to see if the Earth sounds different now that human activities have largely come to a halt. Is there more silence? Or are there more sounds heard from nature, such as birds, bees, waves, wind, etc.? All recordings will be archived for historians in the future.
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<li>Organizer: John Wills</li>
<li>Online: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreatJohnCageProject/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/GreatJohnCageProject/</a> </li>
<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://anchor.fm/greatjohncageproject" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://anchor.fm/greatjohncageproject</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Making Global Goals Local Business: </h2>
<h3>The Lockdown Edition</h3>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 14:30 BST 
Channel: Zoom 
Length: 1 hour
This is an interactive and engaging webinar to share your thoughts and listen to those of others on how the lockdowns have impacted your Global Goals as a business. These goals range from economic growth, circular economies, ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality, and environmental protection. How has COVID-19 impacted your business regarding these goals? And what opportunities are there for us to build a new, healthier, normal? The webinar is open to anyone, from interested individuals in organisations to business representatives working in sustainability, CSR or business strategy.
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<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-global-goals-local-business-lockdown-edition-tickets-102760659900" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-global-goals-local-business-lockdown-edition-tickets-102760659900</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>
 
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<h2>Bugs, Birds and other Beasts</h2>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 13:00 BST 
Medium: Facebook
Almost similar to The Great John Cage Project, this climate event invites you to record bugs, birds and other animals around you. But rather than recording sounds, you are asked to record what you see in whatever way you want. Maybe that’s recording your voice counting birds in your garden, describing or drawing butterflies, or any other creative way you can think of. Goal is to connect more to the nature around you and appreciating its beauty. Drawings of insects or animals can be displayed in your window to encourage collective participation.
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<li>Organizer: Lorna Stoddart</li>
<li>Online: <a href="https://greenwoodgrowth.life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://greenwoodgrowth.life/</a> </li>
<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/650541915782618/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/events/650541915782618/</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Food Heroes Workshop</h2>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 12:30 BST 
Medium: Downloadable toolkit 
Length: 30 Minutes
This interactive Food Heroes Workshop has been developed by the Cambrian Training Company through the UNICEF Sustainability Initiative, the World’s Largest Lesson (WLL). Normally, the WLL is shared in classrooms, but now it’s available online. Aim is to help people understand global sustainability development goals and what you can do to help achieve these goals. You can invite your whole family to join and learn how you can make a positive change, together.
<ul>
<li>Organizer: Cambrian Training Company</li>
<li>Online: <a href="https://www.feedtheplanet.worldchefs.org/foodheroeschallenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.feedtheplanet.worldchefs.org/foodheroeschallenge</a> </li>
<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CambrianTrainingCompany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/CambrianTrainingCompany</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>
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<h2>EarthDay50</h2>
<h3>&#8230;Past and Future, Shaping the New Normal</h3>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 14:30 BST 
Medium: Zoom 
Length: 45 mins
This is a live online presentation from Martin Brown, who is the lead for the LEG Ecology Team, a Sustainability Provocateur at Fairsnape and author of FutuREstorative: Working Towards a New Sustainability. The talk is part of the Longridge Environment Group Earth Day celebrations, which normally take place in town, but is now hosted online due to current circumstances.
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<li>Organizer: Longridge Environment Group</li>
<li>Online: <a href="http://www.fairsnape.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.fairsnape.com</a> </li>
<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/earthday2020-tickets-102879222524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/earthday2020-tickets-102879222524</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Livestream &#8216;La Medicina&#8217;</h2>
<h3>Sacred Heart Beat of Mother Earth Meditation with the Drum</h3>
Date: 4/22/2020 
Time: 11:00 BST 
Medium: YouTube 
Length: 30min
This is a live stream active meditation, including chanting and playing the drums. Hosted by Regina Rhythm, the intention is to connect to other people, to nature, and be present in the current moment. If you don’t drum, you can play along on a cushion, table or your knees. The meditation is open to everyone who is interested.
<ul>
<li>Organizer: Regina Rhythm: </li>
<li>Online: reginarhythm@gmail.com </li>
<li>RSVP link: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reginarhythm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.instagram.com/reginarhythm</a>/ and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_BtAtBi1bYlHdsEnVUhUWA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_BtAtBi1bYlHdsEnVUhUWA</a></li>
<li>Ticket price: Free</li>
</ul>

Other things you can do at home to celebrate Earth Day 2020

<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-1259 size-full" src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20200420081905/earth-day-2020-celebrate-1.jpg" alt="earth day 2020 celebrate" width="885" height="590" srcset="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20200420081905/earth-day-2020-celebrate-1.jpg 885w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20200420081905/earth-day-2020-celebrate-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20200420081905/earth-day-2020-celebrate-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px" />
Feel like springing into action already? Check out these things you can do at home to save the planet while isolating. Go vegan for a day (if you’re not already), <a href="https://ecologi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plant trees with Ecologi</a>, support one of our <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate projects</a>, practice gratitude and limit your shopping, choose foods with a low carbon footprint, or learn to minimise and declutter your house. Happy Earth Day! 
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How are you going to celebrate our beautiful planet?

Blog

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The Million Tree Pledge: an effort to change the world  

<h3>“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” &#8211; Margaret Mead. </h3>
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This quote displayed at pride of place on the Million Tree Pledge website really sums up what they, as a movement, are trying to do. They have created a platform to connect and inspire small groups of people to help change the world by making a commitment to plant 1 million trees each.

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The Million Tree Pledge is a group of businesses and ambitious individuals who have come together to take action and do something radical in response to the climate emergency. Each pledger has made a bold, two-part commitment to: 
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Plant over 1 million trees by a specific date (most pledgers have chosen 2030.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Find at least two other pledgers to do the same, ensuring that the initiative grows exponentially. </li>
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The Million Tree Pledge aims to have tens of thousands of pledgers in the next few years, collectively planting billions of trees around the world in the places where they are needed the most. This community is rising up, to draw carbon down from the atmosphere, drawing down significantly more carbon than their own lifetime emissions. That&#8217;s why the slogan for this pledge is the powerful  #RiseUpDrawDown.

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There are many ways to change the world and many different things that are needed. However, at Ecologi, we believe that planting trees is a great way to start, and the folks at the Million Tree Pledge definitely agree with us there. It’s now common knowledge that one of the best tools to tackle the climate crisis and keep our temperatures from rising above 1.5°C is to plant trees.
Trees are also crucial in preventing ecological collapse and preserving the world&#8217;s biodiversity. They provide habitat, shade, shelter and food for local wildlife, support local communities and stabilise soils to minimize the risk of natural hazards like landslides. They also help to purify air and water sources and even have a positive effect on our mental health.

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The founding members of the Million Tree Pledge were already drawing down their carbon footprints by planting trees through Ecologi. A number of them had the same personal ambition of planting 1 million trees. When they realised this, Marcus Hemsley, one of the founders, came up with the idea of a pledge site where people could formally commit to planting 1 million trees and also encourage others to do the same. 
Launched on Earth Day 2021, there are already 34 individuals and businesses signed up to the Million Tree Pledge and 31 million trees have been pledged so far!  In just 8 months, the MTP has already collectively planted 4.8 million trees, and are aiming to reach 5 million by the end of the year.

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The great thing about the Million Tree Pledge is that it is for everyone, with an emphasis on SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), with ambitious sustainability goals. It’s all about providing small businesses with a way to have a massive impact by taking on a huge challenge and setting themselves ambitious targets that will involve making some changes and employing some pretty creative initiative and engineering in order to achieve them.
Some examples of businesses that have already committed to this challenge include <a href="https://ecologi.com/create" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Create</a> (283,223 trees so far!), <a href="https://ecologi.com/thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thrive Accountants</a> (57,439 trees), and <a href="https://ecologi.com/propellernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Propellernet</a> (358,747 trees so far!).

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In August 2021, <a href="https://ecologi.com/krystal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Krystal Hosting</a> became not only the first member of the Million Tree Pledger to complete their pledge, but also our first Ecologi partner to achieve 1 Million trees planted!
We’re so proud to work with Krystal and we love seeing all their inspiring, planet-saving work. Planting 1 Million trees is only one part of Krystal’s wider green strategy which includes being one of the first website hosting services to be powered by 100% renewable energy, having their data centre facility supplied by 100% green power, and offering their staff incentive schemes to encourage all Krystal employees to switch to 100% renewable energy at home too.
A great many other businesses have signed up so far too! Some of these include:  

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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/fountainpartnership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fountain Partnership</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/create" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Create</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/bother">Bother</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/cannabrew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cannabrew</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/propellernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Propellernet</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/parcelmonkey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parcel Monkey</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/bakedin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bakedin</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/eetgroup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EET</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/utilities4lessltd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U4L</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thrive Accountants</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/remarkably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remarkably</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/climbingtrees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climbing Trees</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/bima/msq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MSQ</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/londonspeakerbureau" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London Speaker Bureau</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/reverse">Reverse</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glow Innovation Limited</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited/fineartbykirsteenthomson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fine Art By Kirsteen Thomson</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited/chloebullock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Materialise Interiors</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited/simbiotikltd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Simbiotik</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/reddico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reddico</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/majority" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Majority</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://ecologi.com/jeremystern" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PromoVeritas</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://straightforward.design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Straight Forward Design</a></li>
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The Collective Forest - making the MTP accessible to all 

The Collective Forest is another amazing collective action story from our Million Tree Pledge community. Laura Gelder-Robertson from <a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glow Innovation Limited</a> set up the Collective Forest as a way to make the Million Tree Pledge accessible to everyone &#8211; even the smallest of micro businesses! 
In order to join the Million Tree Pledge, businesses and individuals need to have 10,000 trees planted with Ecologi or another verified tree planting provider. (It’s important that these trees are planted with reputable providers to ensure they can be evidenced). This 10,000 tree buy-in (just £1,240 through Ecologi) is still a big reach for micro businesses, sole traders and new businesses just yet starting out, and some just can’t afford this outlay. So, to make the movement more accessible, Laura decided to start a collective forest in which smaller businesses could team up to work towards the goal of planting 1 million trees.  
On the first Monday of COP26, Laura marked the occasion by spending her entire life savings on planting 100,000 trees. She hoped to inspire others to join her in working as a team to reach 1 million, and this hope has already been proved possible. Small businesses that want to take part now just need to put forward 1000 trees (£124)  to join Laura’s ‘Parent’ Ecologi forest and become part of the movement. This Collective Forest has already welcomed two new pledgers, <a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited/fineartbykirsteenthomson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fine Art by Kirsteen Thomson</a> and <a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited/chloebullock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Materialise Interiors</a>. You can see how the Collective Forest works by viewing Laura’s <a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glow Innovation Limited forest</a>.
In an<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWeoF6n7dg0" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> interview </a>with Marcus Hemsley, Laura talked about what drove her to start the Collective Forest. She said that she knew some of the pledgers, and everything they were talking about was about 100 times more ambitious than what she was thinking at the time. She thought  “I’m a one woman band &#8211; but what&#8217;s stopping me from becoming just as ambitious as them?”. So, Laura pitched to the group that she could probably plant 100,000 trees, and probably find another 9 small businesses that could do the same, and it is certainly already looking that way. 
In this interview, Laura describes the warm reception she received from alumni at Cambridge University and how people high up in big businesses, sustainability and multinational corporations were just a little bit gobsmacked (as we all were!) If one person can pledge that much, it makes the 1 million trees that they planted as a massive business last year pale into insignificance. This was exactly Laura’s intention: getting everyone to amp up the ambition. She emphasises that it is all about doing everything we can to massively up the commitment from everyone.  By throwing down the gauntlet to all businesses, we can make sure that everyone gets involved in the fight to reverse the climate crisis and show the bigger businesses exactly how much is expected and needed from them. She says, “Time isn&#8217;t on our side”, and “it&#8217;s absolutely an emergency”, and that we need to act NOW.
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In her interview, Laura mentions ‘The Hummingbird Mindset”. This is the African fable about a fire in a forest. While the fire rages through the trees, all the animals are watching in fear apart from the smallest hummingbird who keeps on filling its beak with water from the river to drop on the fire. It returns countless times in an effort to distinguish the fire. When asked by the other animals “what is it doing?”, it replies, “I’m doing the most I can”. 
The message from this rings strong in that if everyone did the maximum they could do, we would be so much more likely to be able to “put out the fire”, and halt and reverse the climate crisis. Individuals and small businesses can and must do their part, whether that is pledging to plant 1 million trees with the <a href="https://www.milliontreepledge.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Million Tree Pledge</a>, or forming an <a href="https://ecologi.com/glowinnovationlimited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alliance</a> in order to do so. We have to all take action and do the most that we can &#8211; it&#8217;s the only way in which we actually can change the world.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up today to take real climate action with Ecologi</a>.

Updates

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From 1st February 2022, the cost of purchasing a verified tonne of carbon reduction via our API is increasing from £3.70 to £6.50. The same change has been implemented on our platform as of today (18th January). These changes are due to significant increases in market prices. This will not affect subscription plans at this time.
Industry-wide, the cost of buying and retiring one tonne of carbon <a href="https://carboncredits.com/carbon-prices-today/">has increased dramatically over the past year</a>. This means we need to update the pricing for carbon via our API, so that it more closely matches the real cost of carbon in the market.
At Ecologi, impact is our foremost goal which means we continuously strive to balance cost and quality. <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dACvzjE5nBE1cKZBAhYzsUa7rIiLJqCWXVgY4bNS8_Q/edit#gid=766227634">Our public ledger</a> gives you direct insight into our purchasing philosophy and visualises how we distribute our income between operational costs and impact. 
If you have any questions, please contact <a href="mailto:sales@ecologi.com">sales@ecologi.com.</a>
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FAQs

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We love planting trees – but that’s not all we do. Ecologi also helps preserve the world’s existing forests by supporting carbon reduction projects that prevent degradation and deforestation.

Why are forest protection projects important?

Home to most of the world’s biodiversity, forests also play a crucial role in supporting the supply of water, and help to combat climate change. Additionally, forests all over the world provide livelihoods for local communities and are essential for food production. The forest protection projects Ecologi supports are important because forests across the planet are being destroyed at alarming rates. Since the 90s, roughly <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca8642en/CA8642EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">420 million hectares of forest</a> have been lost to make room for <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/industries-and-sectors-driving-deforestation-what-you-need-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other land uses</a>, like agricultural expansion.   
Tackling deforestation helps us to tackle our planet&#8217;s biggest problems: the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis. Deforestation is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, while the associated carbon emissions of land-use change are thought to be <a href="https://drawdown.org/solutions/forest-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10-15% of the world&#8217;s total</a> emissions – more than the entire global transport sector.

Avoiding deforestation is part of the solution

Put simply, we can combat deforestation just by planting more trees. The FAO 2020 <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca8642en/CA8642EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of the World’s Forest Report</a> says that we need large-scale reforestation to meet the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a> and stop –and reverse– biodiversity loss. Through forest restoration can we restore habitats and ecosystems, and create jobs and generate income for local communities. Reforestation is an effective nature-based solution to climate change, but making sure areas of existing forest stay in tact is just as important.

Over <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca8642en/CA8642EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a third (34%)</a> of the world&#8217;s forests are primary forests. These are naturally generated forests of native tree species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activity. Primary forests are invaluable for their biodiversity, carbon storage and other benefits to ecosystems.
Comparing primary forests with both secondary (those established through natural expansion and around 14–16 years old) and planted forests, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/104/47/18555" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one study of species richness</a> found that 25% of the species were unique to primary forests, with almost 60% only present in primary forests. If we allow the destruction of primary forests to continue, we risk losing species that we can never get back.

Forest protection projects and carbon storage

Primary forests, or old-growth or virgin forests, are also a priority for valuable carbon storage. The likes of the Amazon, Congo and Great Bear Rainforest have mature canopy trees and complex understories, containing <a href="https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/forest-protection/technical-summary#:~:text=Project%20Drawdown%20defines%20forest%20protection,replaces%20non%2Dprotected%20forest%20land.&amp;text=They%20represent%20massive%20storehouses%20of%20carbon%20in%20soils%20and%20biomass." target="_blank" rel="noopener">an estimated 300 billion tonnes of carbon</a>. 
According to Project Drawdown, forest protection has the potential to avoid the emission of <a href="https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/forest-protection/technical-summary#:~:text=Project%20Drawdown%20defines%20forest%20protection,replaces%20non%2Dprotected%20forest%20land.&amp;text=They%20represent%20massive%20storehouses%20of%20carbon%20in%20soils%20and%20biomass." target="_blank" rel="noopener">5.52 to 8.75 gigatons of CO2e </a>between 2020 and 2050, while <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0485-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another recent study</a> shows that avoided deforestation offers between 7.2 and 9.6 times the potential for low-cost climate mitigation as reforestation. 
Of course, forest restoration is still vital, but prevention is better than cure. As well as planting new trees, we should also protect existing forests because they store more carbon, and contain plants and animals that we may never see in planted or restored forests. That&#8217;s why, at Ecologi, we do both!

Forest protection projects Ecologi has supported

These projects are part of the Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (<a href="https://www.un-redd.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">REDD+</a>) scheme. They place an area of forest under protection through long-term forest management. These are some of the forest protection programmes Ecologi has supported most recently:

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<h3>1. Preserving prime Brazilian rainforests</h3>
This project is protecting and restoring 186,219 hectares of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. This area of the rainforest hosts eight endangered mammal species, and numerous endangered bird and plant species. The project will prevent the deforestation of 30,0006 hectares over its 30 years project lifetime, which equates to 14,507,808 tCO2e in emissions reductions. 
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emissions avoided by Ecologi through this project: 1300 tCO2e </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sustainable Development Goals supported: Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13: Climate Action and Goal 15: Life on Land. </li>
</ul>

<h3>2. Protecting the Amazon Rainforest from deforestation in Brazil</h3>
Ecologi has supported a fantastic project protecting 496,988 hectares of the Brazilian rainforest, rich in biodiversity and containing several species of extreme ecological and social importance. Six critically endangered or threatened species will benefit from the reduction of threats as a result of the project activities. For the 30-year phase of the project, an estimated 15,491,971 tonnes of CO2e will be saved from entering the atmosphere.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emissions avoided by Ecologi through this project: 1750 tCO2e </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sustainable Development Goals supported: Goal 2: Zero hunger, Goal 4: Quality Education, Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13: Climate Action, and Goal 15: Life on Land </li>
</ul>

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<h3>3. Protecting and restoring the Pacific Coast of Columbia</h3>
This avoided deforestation project based on the Pacific coast of Columbia protects 83,452 hectares of land containing over 831 bird species, 195 amphibians, 167 mammals, 210 reptiles and 5124 plant species. Illegal timber extraction has historically been an important source of income within this project zone, and the project aims to relieve the pressure on the forests by supporting the development of sustainable economic and livelihood alternatives. 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emissions avoided by Ecologi through this project: 2500 tCO2e </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sustainable Development Goals supported:  Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 4: Quality Education, Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and Goal 13: Climate Action.</li>
</ul>

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<h3>4. Preserving the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor in Guatemala</h3>
This project sets out to protect and restore 54,157 hectares of land in the Guatemalan section of the Mesoamerican biological corridor by saving the existing areas of forest, establishing areas of reforestation, reducing illegal logging and providing alternative revenue streams from forest production, like sustainable agroforestry. 
Additionally, this project offers community objectives, like providing full access to reproductive health information and care for local women, and ensuring that a sufficient household income for local people is provided from sustainable practices.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emissions avoided by Ecologi through this project: 4400 tCO2e </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sustainable Development Goals supported: Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, Goal 13: Climate Action, Goal 14: Life below Water and Goal 15: Life on Land. </li>
</ul>

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<h3>5. Peruvian protection of the Amazon</h3>
We have supported this project which is protecting 98,932 hectares of the Amazonian rainforest in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. This project secures the long-term conservation and sustainable management of the forest, promotes a healthy wildlife habitat, and will prevent 659,793 tonnes of CO2e from entering the atmosphere each year. 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emissions avoided by Ecologi through this project: 4450 tCO2e </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">SDG co-benefits: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 1: No Poverty, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 4: Quality Education, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 5: Gender Equality, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 10, Reduced inequalities, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 11: sustainable cities and communities, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 12: responsible consumption and production, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 13: Climate Action, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 15: Life on Land, </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 16: Peace justice and strong institutions; </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Goal 17: partnerships for the global goals. </li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

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The co-benefits of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Ecologi only supports and funds carbon offsetting projects which support SDG 13 – Climate Action. However, many of the projects we support – especially those avoiding deforestation – offer SDG co-benefits. This means that they provide a verified and well-documented benefit to other goals in addition to Climate Action. To find out more about our SDG co-benefits, have a look at our <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/updates/ecologi-impact-report-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 climate impact report.</a>

Summary: Why forest protection projects are important

Protecting existing rainforests is a vital strategy to tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis. Forests contain vast amounts of biodiversity and store masses of carbon. That&#8217;s why Ecologi plants thousands of trees AND funds forest protection projects through carbon credits, benefiting both wildlife and the community. 
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<a href="https://ecologi.com/plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up</a> to Ecologi today to help fund these amazing projects to protect existing rainforests around the world.

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