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Why Forests Matter

Wildlife

Habitat loss is the biggest threat to wildlife around the world.

Stand For Trees protects the forests that these animals call home.

Supporting us means you are helping to save some of the world’s most threatened species from extinction.

What we do for wildlife

Why is it that Stand For Trees projects are so valuable to wildlife?

Many species need large areas of pristine forest to thrive. Others migrate through long land corridors every year. Still others are always living in fear of poaching and illegal hunting.

You may notice a theme: habitat loss. That’s probably the biggest threat to most wildlife, other than hunting. And animals might even be safer from hunting if they had enough forest to hide in.

REDD+ and wildlife

Enter REDD+. By definition, it protects large areas of forest – that’s how it prevents climate change. And that means it is perfectly suited to also saving wildlife. Our largest project, Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru, is 1.5 million hectares! All together, Stand For Trees projects protect a land area that is larger than many countries.

Because they’re so large, our projects provide the habitat animals need. And that’s not all: just like for climate change, they also have to show that they are helping wildlife. This could mean a few different things, like:

  • monitoring wildlife numbers
  • patrolling to make sure there is no illegal logging or hunting.
  • running rescue centre
  • proving that wildlife populations are stable or improving

In other words, they have to prove that they are helping wildlife thrive.

What does this mean for you?

When you buy a Stand For Trees certificate, your purchase goes directly to these projects. That means you’re protecting thousands of species of animals, birds, and fish. And saving some of the world’s most threatened wildlife from going extinct.

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So how do they do this?

Our projects have earned special status for protecting wildlife. Most of them, if not all, are home to at least a few critically endangered species. You’ve probably heard of some of them, like orangutans or lemurs.

But those are just the well known ones; there are many, many more. And not just animals, either. Some projects also have glorious birds, like macaws. Others host rare fish, insects, and butterflies.

All together, we protect a who’s who of the animal kingdom: giant river otters, jaguars, birds of paradise, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, leopards, spectacled bears, gibbons, pangolins. There’s even an exceedingly rare bat.

There are many more that are not so famous. But they are just as threatened – and just as important. (See the biodiversity page for why!)

For the wildlife devotees reading this, you can expand the toggles at the bottom of the page to see the highlights by project.

Our projects and their wildlife

Amazon Valparaíso, Brazil

  • Jaguar (Around 20-25% decline in the last 20 years. Main causes: habitat loss, trophy hunting and illegal trade, and conflicts with humans.)
  • Lowland tapir (Around 30% decline in the last 33 years, which will probably continue for the next 33. Like the jaguar, habitat loss, illegal hunting, and competition with livestock are the main threats.)
  • Short-Eared Dog (Widespread, but rare and not seen very often. Decreased by around 20-25% in the last 12 years, mostly from habitat loss, lack of prey, and disease.)

Brazilian Rosewood, Brazil

  • Golden Parakeet (Threatened by deforestation, flooding, and illegal capture for the pet trade.)
  • Giant Anteater (Vulnerable. Decreased by at least 30% in the last 10 years. There are multiple factors, including habitat degradation.)
  • Giant Otter (Has lost as much as 80% of its range. To make matters worse, it has gone extinct in some areas, so populations are no longer connected.)
  • Ka’apor Capuchin Monkey (Critically endangered. Decreased by 80% over the last 50 years because of forest loss and hunting.)

Congo Basin, DRC

  • Bonobo Chimpanzee (Endangered, from poaching and deforestation.)
  • Forest Elephant (Smaller than the savanna elephant, and much more endangered, mostly thanks to the ivory trade. At one point, decreased by 65% in 12 years!)
  • Giant Pangolin (Expected to decline by 40% in the next ~15 years, because of poaching for food)

Cordillera Azul, Peru

  • Spectacled Bear (expected to decline by 30%. Around a third of its possible habitat is not suitable for living in because of fragmentation, or is threatened by climate change.)
  • Cougar (Threatened by habitat loss. To make things worse, there is a shortage of prey, because of poaching.)
  • Jaguar (as above)

Envira, Brazil

  • Blue-headed Macaw (Vulnerable. Expected to decrease by 30% over three generations, because of ongoing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.)
  • Amazonian Parrotlet (Threatened by deforestation and development.)
  • Rufous-Fronted Antthrush (Lives only in small areas around the Jurua river. Somewhat safe for now, since its habitat is quite remote. But there is still development in the area, which is putting it under pressure.)
  • Spanish Cedar (Vulnerable, thanks to heavy logging)
  • Big Leaf Mahogany (Massively over-logged, because it’s the most commercially important mahogany tree.)

Gola, Sierra Leone

  • Western Chimpanzee (Critically endangered. Decreased by more than 80% over three generations. Greatest threats are habitat loss, poaching, and disease.)
  • Forest Elephant (as above)
  • Tai Toad (Endangered. Very rare even within its home area, which is less than 500 km². Agriculture, logging, and human settlement are causing ongoing declines in habitat size and quality.)

Guatemalan Caribbean Coast, Guatemala

  • Yellow-Headed Parrot (Endangered. Decreasing very fast because of illegal trade, poaching, and hunting. It is also losing habitat to cattle grazing.)
  • Cerulean Warbler (Expected to decline by 25% in the next three generations. Threatened by habitat degradation and forest conversion.)
  • Yucatan Black Howler Monkey (Endangered, from forest loss and hunting.)
  • Geoffroy’s Spider Monkey (Endangered because of habitat loss. Guatemala has one of the few remaining large areas that it can live in.)
  • Baird’s Tapir (Endangered because of habitat loss. It likes forests with ponds and streams, which are prime rainforest areas and most at risk.)
  • Chinamococh Stream Frog (Critically endangered. A stream frog that lives only in old-growth, mountain rainforest in a small part of the Sierra de Santa Cruz, Guatemala. Threatened by forest loss to settlements, farming, and logging.)
  • Central American River Turtle (Critically endangered. Maybe the most endangered turtle in its range, because it is so widely hunted for food.)

Kariba, Zimbabwe

  • African Elephant (Vulnerable to to habitat loss and fragmentation from settlements and land conversion. Also hunted for ivory and meat.)
  • Cheetah (Vulnerable. Lost much of its range to habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. Decreased by almost a third in the last 15 years.)
  • Lion (Vulnerable. Decreased by over half in most of its range in the last 20 years. The main causes are human-wildlife conflict, prey shortages, and trophy hunting.)
  • Leopard (as above)

Kasigau, Kenya

  • African Elephant (as above)
  • Grevy’s Zebra (endangered. Decreased by over half in 30 years. Threatened by habitat loss, livestock competition, local hunting, and land conversion for farming and industry.)
  • Cheetah (as above)
  • Lion (as above)

Keo Seima, Cambodia

  • Elongated tortoise (critically endangered, because of hunting for trade and food, plus land conversion for farming and housing)
  • Smooth-coated otter (threatened by farming pollution and habitat loss)
  • Black-shanked douc langur (critically endangered. Hunting is the biggest threat, plus habitat loss.)
  • Yellow-cheeked crested gibbon (endangered, mostly from hunting for the illegal pet trade.)
  • Black-necked stork (with red legs. There are many threats: hunting, forest loss, lack of fish (its major prey), climate change.)
  • Giant ibis (Critically endangered, from habitat loss)
  • Asiatic golden cat (Hunted for food and trade)
  • Sunda pangolin (It’s secretive, only comes out at night, and is very difficult to find. And it is still hunted so much that it is critically endangered.)

Mai Ndombe, DRC

  • Leopard (More than half of the population in East and West Africa is already gone. It has lost 30% of its range worldwide in the last 22 years. On top of that, there is poaching for body parts or the illegal wildlife trade, plus loss of available prey.)
  • Forest Elephant (as above)
  • Bonobo Chimpanzee (as above)

Pacific Forest Communities, Colombia

  • Green Poison Frog (Critically endangered. Lives on the western slopes of Colombia’s West Andes. Threatened by agriculture, mining, and invasive species.)
  • Leatherback Turtle (Vulnerable to development, fishing, and pollution.)
  • Giant anteater (Has been continuously declining in the past 10 years. Most threatened by forest loss, roadkills, hunting, and wildfires.)
  • Black-and-chestnut Eagle (Endangered, and declining. It lives in mountain forests which are continuously being destroyed.)

Rimba Raya, Indonesia

  • Bornean Orangutan (Critically endangered. By 2025, it will have decreased by more than 80% over 75 years. Palm oil and climate change are destroying its habitat, and illegal hunting makes things worse.)
  • Clouded Leopard (Lives in closed forest, and Southeast Asia does not have much left. As a result, the leopard has declined 30% in the last 21 years. On top of habitat loss, there is heavy hunting, mostly for the illegal wildlife trade.)
  • Gibbon (Endangered. Decreased by more than 50% in the last 45 years. Extensively hunted for trade and for food.)
  • Proboscis Monkey (Endangered because of habitat loss. Decreased by 50-80% in the last ~40 years.)

Southern Cardamom, Cambodia

  • Asian elephant (Endangered, mostly because of habitat loss)
  • Sun bear (Threatened by forest loss and hunting for the illegal wildlife trade.)
  • Pileated gibbon (Endangered. There is a large cluster in the Southern Cardamom mountains. Threatened by hunting for food and habitat loss.)
  • Dhole (A small wild dog. Endangered because of loss of food. Its prey has been over-hunted, and it cannot live in areas without prey. Forest loss is also threatening its remaining habitat.)
  • Mainland clouded leopard (Hunted for skins and bones for the illegal wildlife trade. Also at risk of habitat loss.)
  • Fishing cat (a cat that likes water, who knew? But it has dropped by almost a third in the last 15 years, and it’s expected to drop the same amount in the next 15. That makes it one of the most vulnerable cat species.)
  • Sunda pangolin (It’s secretive, only comes out at night, and is very difficult to find. And it is still hunted so much that it is critically endangered.)
  • Southern river terrapin (a small river turtle. Also critically endangered. Decreased by 90% over the last 75 years. It is hunted heavily for food and eggs. And mining and dam building are destroying its habitat.)
  • Giant ibis (Critically endangered, from habitat loss)

Tambopata, Peru

  • Jaguar (as above)
  • Giant River Otter (Endangered because of habitat destruction. It’s expected to decrease by 50% or more over the next 25 years.)
  • Great Green Macaw (Endangered. Threatened by habitat loss and capture for the pet trade.)

Nii Kaniti

  • Jaguar (as above)
  • Blue-headed macaw 
  • Tapir 
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