Cool Earth 2018 | What on Earth happened this year?

In between putting on yet another jumper and accidentally writing the year wrong again, the Cool Earth team has been reminiscing on 2018; our most effective year yet. 

January

The Wabumari Association awards Silo Silo primary school K3200 (the equivalent of £750) to assist 16 students into further education. A lack of education leaves local people vulnerable to exploitation in many different ways; increasing access to education is empowering future conservationists from the ground up.

February

Cool Earth receives reports from Papua New Guinea of King Tides. Coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events, and these super-high tides flood up to 100m inland. Thanks to Cool Earth’s supporters, Wabumari had brand new water tanks so their access to clean water wasn’t affected by the tide. Both villages also have an emergency fund in the Community Association’s bank account.

March

Biodiversity Officer Jaime Peña catches the elusive spectacled bear on camera in the Asháninka partnership. Deforestation is not only a threat to wildlife homes and people’s livelihoods; knowledge that has been passed through the generations is lost with the forest.

April

Earth Day is spent raising awareness of just how important trees are in our daily lives. This global movement recognises the importance of our natural planet. This year, this resulted over 1,000 supporters becoming regular donors, supporting rainforest conservation year round.

May

Cool Earth’s Asháninka partnership is recognised with a Gold Award for International Sustainable Community at the Global Good Awards. The judges said: “This approach is game-changing, allowing rainforest protection to become a sustainable component of empowered, healthy communities.”

June

From the moment the Awajún community suggested we share their traditional fundraiser with our supporters, we knew Pollada would be a hit. From housewarmings to birthday parties, Cool Earth’s supporters hosted forest-saving fiestas throughout the summer, raising money for forest communities and keeping trees standing.

July

A root and branch review of progress in the Peru partnerships shows that no trees had been lost to logging or mining companies, a key proviso for Cool Earth funds to communities. Cool Earth has developed its Monitoring and Evaluation team this year and armed them with the best satellite mapping technology and remote sensing skills to keep track of the forest’s biodiversity-rich canopy.

August

The ‘Save the Rainforest’T-shirt by Vivienne Westwood flies off the shelves. Cool Earth’s dear friend and Patron, Vivienne Westwood, designed this amazing limited edition charity T-shirt in support of rainforest communities from Peru to Papua New Guinea.

September

A new forest agreement is signed by the village of Sololo in Papua New Guinea. Having approached Cool Earth determined to protect their forest from advancing palm plantations, the community is investing in an education programme to address high illiteracy rates.

October

The IPCC report grabs the headlines. After the summer’s heatwave, and August’s Earth Overshoot Day, it demanded urgent action. Hundreds of scientists and thousands of hours of work contributed to this publication, which concluded that we have only 12 years to avoid catastrophic climate change. At the heart of this climate solution is rainforest, storing 260 tonnes of carbon per acre on average.

November

Cool Earth confirms a further three years working alongside Fauna and Flora International in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It means expanding the fuel-efficient stoves project to protect the habitat of endangered Grauer’s Gorilla. The community can also begin a farmer schools project which will help local people to develop incomes from sustainable crops.

December

More donors than ever take the future of our climate into their own hands to make sure 2018 ended as effectively as it began. Having met climate champion Gellie in Papua New Guinea and community champion Geneveve in DRC, Cool Earth’s supporters championed rainforest communities around the world. With all donations matched until in December, so many of you made 2018 your most effective year yet. Helping champion communities and grow Cool Earth’s rainforest network.

And that’s a wrap for Cool Earth 2018.