Protect Rainforest, Now!
The simplest solution is to let tropical forests grow. Protect them from degradation and let them be. Older, larger tropical trees can absorb as much as 3 times more carbon than younger.
Time is short. Of the three largest rainforests on the planet, only one, in Africa’s Congo basin, remains a carbon sink and retains most of its accumulated carbon. A second, in Indonesia, has become a net source of carbon due to degradation and deforestation, and the third, in the Amazon basin, is teetering. Scientists estimate there is a temperature threshold for tropical forests beyond which they cease to function properly. According to model projections, the Amazonian forest will reach this threshold by 2040.
To learn about Virunga, we suggest you watch the Oscar nominated documentary of the same name on Netflix, or at least its trailer here. Produced by Orlando von Einsiedel and Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie tells the breathtaking story of Africa’s oldest nature park, its unique geological riches and how this region is being exploited by outsiders at the expense of local people. It shows how the struggle to defend the beauty of nature and the world’s last mountain gorillas clashes with our lifestyle choices and demand for fossil fuels.