World Rainforest Day 2024

Summer and the solstice are right around the corner. There’s something magical and hopeful about those long sunny days spent outside, soaking in the sunshine. Everything seems possible. But sometimes, during the most sweltering heat and with the sun’s rays beating down on Earth, we all need a little respite. In those moments, there’s nothing better than the cool shade of a beautiful, full-grown, leafy tree. Trees and forests—the thermostat of our precious planet—need celebrating. This year, that time is coming on June 22, 2024, World Rainforest Day, with the theme, “The Year of Action”.

Founded in 2017 by Rainforest Partnership, World Rainforest Day illustrates the importance of healthy, standing rainforests for climate, biodiversity, culture, and livelihoods. This organization is also leading a global movement, in collaboration with industry leaders across sectors, to pledge rainforest and biodiversity protection and restoration.

Rainforests are remarkable. Here are a few facts:

• They are home to 50% of the world’s biodiversity, even though they cover only about 6% of land on Earth. At one point, they covered 14%!
•  They produce about 20% of our oxygen and absorb and store about 30% of global carbon emissions. In all, rainforests and these processes help to stabilize Earth’s climate—what powerhouses!
• Rainforest plants are used to make medicines such as muscle relaxants, steroids, and insecticide—these are products that treat asthma, arthritis, malaria, heart disease, and pneumonia. About 70% of plants useful in the treatment of cancer are found only in rainforests, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
• A mushroom (fungus) discovered in the tropical rainforest of Ecuador can eat polyurethane (a hard plastic). The fungus can even consume the plastic in an oxygen-free environment. This has led to investments in research to investigate if these fungi can help reduce waste in urban landfills, according to National Geographic.

Unfortunately, we as humans don’t always show trees the love they deserve. Since the last ice age 10,000 years ago, the world has lost one-third of its forests, according to Our World in Data. That’s about 2 billion hectares of forest, or an area twice the size of the United States. This land has been cleared for agricultural and industrial development, to grow crops, raise livestock, and to make fuelwood. Between 2010 and 2020, the average yearly net loss in forests globally was 4.7 million hectares. This equals between 85-100 acres of cleared rainforest every minute.

Deforestation can have dire consequences. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis; this locks carbon in their wood to be used as chemical energy. When trees are burned, this carbon is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. With fewer trees around to take in the carbon dioxide, this greenhouse gas accumulates in the atmosphere and accelerates global warming.

Clearing away large parts of a rainforest can also force the animals and plants that make the forest their home out of their habitat, leading to extinction. Some scientists say we are already in the middle of a mass-extinction period, according to National Geographic. Another, more immediate, effect of losing trees is erosion of soil, which causes the remaining plants to become more vulnerable to fire. This shifts the forest from being a closed, moist environment to an open, dry one. Considering how important rainforests are to the health of our planet, this is devastating.

But there is hope on the horizon. Many individuals, communities, organizations, conservation groups, companies and governments are tackling the threat to our rainforest habitats with innovative approaches. Here are a few notable actions:

1)      Treedom® - The “only click that gives you a green thumb”. In their own words, “Treedom is the first platform in the world that allows you to plant a tree from a distance and follow the story of the project online.” The best part is that local farmers plant the trees, which brings environmental, social and financial benefits to their communities. The tree species planted are also native or respect the biodiversity of the different territories. Since its foundation in 2010, Treedom has planted 4,354,577 trees and counting in Africa, South America and Italy. And Treedom is easy to use. According to their website, all you need to do is: Choose the tree you like the most and a farmer will plant it for you in his country and will take care of it. You will also be able to follow the tree and its progress online. Treedom became part of the Certified B Corporations in 2014—a huge accomplishment(!)—and joined the likes of other companies, such as EcoPlum, that stand out for their high environmental and social performance. These companies are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. 

2)      Suzano – The largest pulp manufacturer in the world, one of the largest paper producers in Latin America and the leader in the toilet paper segment in Brazil. This company makes everyday products that reach more than 2 billion people around the world. Items include packaging paper, books, straws and cups, sanitary pads and toilet paper. Headquartered in Brazil for more than 100 years, Suzano knows the importance of preserving the biodiversity of areas like the country’s rainforests. They’ve developed a more sustainable and innovative supply chain to replace fossil-based materials. Their raw material comes from a renewable source, the eucalyptus tree. Since the tree is renewed at each planting cycle, the company is able to replant again in the same place at the end of each harvest. In addition, many of their products are biodegradable and will break down much quicker than traditional fossil-fuel based materials. By 2030, Suzano has committed to connect half a million hectares (500,000) of priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Amazon. These corridors “will significantly contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, as they will connect isolated forest areas, enabling the transit of animals, the increase in vegetation cover and, consequently, the regeneration of biodiversity,” according to the company’s website. The company has also established 15 Commitments to Renewing Life—long-term goals that align with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, which tackle issues that are urgent to society. These include poverty, inequality, threatened water supplies, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and non-renewable energy sources. To learn more about the company and its sustainability goals, read their 2023 Sustainability Report or visit their website.  

3)      Tentree - A “tree-planting company that sells apparel, not an apparel company that plants trees.” With an ambitious goal to plant 1 billion trees by 2030, Tentree is well on its way. Since their beginning, each product sold has planted a tree, and each item comes with a “tree code” that is directly linked to trees that were planted at one of the projects they support across the globe. Customers can then register their code and watch their “forest” grow. So far, the company has planted more than one million trees worldwide. On the company’s website, customers can also purchase monthly subscription plans that can offset their carbon emissions. The plans cover individuals or families of two or four members. If you don’t want to buy a recurring plan, you can also purchase a package that covers your emissions for either a month or a year, during events such as birthdays and Mother’s Day, actions such as road trips or flights, driving, taking long showers, shipping packages and more, or a package that plants trees in a type of forest (Mangrove, Agro, Subtropical Moist or a Boreal Forest). The idea is clever and makes it easy to make an impact far away from the comfort of your own home. Tentree mostly plants mangrove trees in Madagascar and Indonesia since this type of tree is one of the most efficient carbon sequestering trees in the world. To learn more about this type of tree, read this. Tentree is Certified B Corp and has one of the highest scores in their category, and was awarded Best for the World in Community in 2021.

Trees are life. It’s clear that these three companies understand the relevance and the magic of trees. In a sea of corporations that often overlook their impact on the environment, engage in illegal actions and value profit over anything else, it’s refreshing to see businesses that actually care about our collective future. On this year’s Rainforest Day, we encourage you to go outside and celebrate trees, plant new ones or support other organizations’ efforts to preserve the forests that we are lucky to still have on our planet.