Save the Trees: New campaign Against Deforestation Launched

Feb 11, 2015 1:00 PM ET
Trees stand for us, it's time to Stand for Trees.

Originally published by the Associate Press

By KARL RITTER

Since the money raised by governments and corporations hasn't managed to halt the destruction of the world's rainforests — an area the size of Alabama or Greece is lost every year — a new U.S. campaign is now inviting individuals to chip in.

The U.S. Agency for International Development and Code REDD, a California-based advocacy group, on Tuesday announced the launch of an online store for carbon offsets, certificates that will fund forest conservation projects in tropical countries.

Until now those offsets have mainly been aimed at companies seeking to wipe out their carbon footprint by supporting efforts to stop deforestation, which besides threatening biodiversity and wildlife is the second-largest human source of climate-warming carbon emissions, behind fossil fuels.

"But the demand in that market is pretty low," said Peter Natiello, USAID's mission director in Colombia. "We think we can energize a large group of citizens to play a more active role."

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