In just one week, installs of the Ecosia app have increased by more than 1000%.
Following the devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest, people around the world are looking for ways they can help. With Ecosia, they can. Thanks to these new users and their searches, we are now tripling our efforts in Brazil.
Last month we pledged to plant one million trees in Brazil in response to Bolsonaro's damaging policies. Over the next 12 months, Ecosia will plant an additional two million trees.
The Amazon fires have raised global alarm.
What’s at stake is the destruction of the world’s most efficient carbon dioxide sink, what scientists call the 'lungs of the earth'. If we lose the Amazon rainforest, we might lose the battle against global warming.
But these fires are not just about the Amazon.
The Amazon and Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest) together hold a large portion of the world’s biodiversity of plant and animal species.
The fires have sparked a bigger question: who is responsible for protecting the world’s (rain)forests?
Ecosia’s mission is to make the world a greener, better place. To do this, we work with local communities and organizations. They know best how to restore nature's balance while protecting people's livelihoods.
National and international pressure has forced Bolsonaro’s government to finally help extinguish the fires in the Amazon. But we are not letting our guard down.
Bolsonaro’s government has reversed many previous environmental policies. Conservation NGOs and environmental agencies in Brazil have been weakened.
What will happen after the fires are extinguished?
Over the next year, Ecosia will plant a total of 3 million trees with our reforestation partners in Brazil. These will add to the 2.2 million trees already planted in previous years.
The trees will be planted in the Atlantic Forest which stretches along Brazil’s coast. This forest - or the 8% that remains of it - is, above all, a warning of what will become of the Amazon Forest, if a different path is not taken.
People on all sides of the world depend on these forests as a buffer against global warming.
“The trees Ecosia will plant are more than just trees” Severino Ribeiro, director of our partner organization in Brazil, told us. “They’re a sign that in times of crisis, we all hold together - Brazil and the international community”.
And that’s what these 2+1 million trees stand for.
Thank you for making it all possible.
