Guest Post – from the Rainforest Partnership
In December 2015, Rainforest Partnership celebrated with the world when 195 nations came together to adopt the historical and unprecedented Paris Agreement. Setting aside their many ideologies and national interests, our global leaders came together to address the single greatest challenge facing our planet. These 195 nations acknowledged that the increasing number, scale, and impact of natural disasters are directly related to the rate at which the world’s climate changes.
For us at Rainforest Partnership, it restored hope, as it did for so many others around the world. Watching this first hand in our capacity as official Observer Delegates to the UN’s process for addressing climate change, Rainforest Partnership had followed the trajectory leading up to the Paris Agreement starting with COP 15 in Copenhagen in 2009.
As we watched the announcement of the US decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement, we felt the betrayal of the global commitment that was so hard won. Though deeply saddened, the Rainforest Partnership team felt resolute in our commitment to protect both our forests and our planet. This is why we decided to boost our efforts in launching World Rainforest Day.
The Inaugural World Rainforest Day will take place on June 22nd, 2017. We are creating World Rainforest Day as a collaborative effort to raise awareness and encourage action to save one of the earth’s most precious resources, our rainforests. By reaching across political and geographical borders to educate and activate people around the world through virtual connection, Rainforest Partnership hopes to impact the way communities interact with their environments, both in developed and developing nations.
Protecting rainforests is an essential step in the right direction towards stabilizing our changing climate. However, climate change presents an unpredictable and catastrophic future for rainforest ecosystems. Rainforest communities are experiencing the ramifications of climate change such as an increase in dramatic weather events much like the rest of the world. Deforestation has a negative impact on rainforests and on climate stability. We need to ensure that the world has a better understanding of the true value of rainforests before it is too late.
Rainforest Partnership decided to create World Rainforest Day to spread knowledge about the importance of rainforests and encourage global action in protecting these beautiful and enchanting ecosystems. World Rainforest Day aims to draw attention to rainforest communities, showcase innovative ideas and highlight the value of these critical ecosystems. We invite you to join us…
Because the World Can’t Wait.
—
Find out more at WorldRainforestDay.com, or @rainforest_day
Share your action with #worldrainforestday
