Forests Although public awareness of the impact of global deforestation has increased in recent years, it has not slowed the rate of deforestation appreciably. Over the past 8,000 years, nearly one half of the forests that once covered the Earth have been converted to farms, pastures, and other uses. A comprehensive assessment of the state of the world's forests indicate that total forested area continues to decline significantly. In the past decade alone, at least 200 million hectares of tropical forest -- three times the area of France -- have been cut. Forests provide habitat to a diverse selection of wildlife. Tropical forests, for example, are home to more than 50 percent of the world's species. As storehouses of carbon, forests are key to regulating climate. Loss of forested areas undermines the stability and resiliency of the global environment on which economies and populations depend. In addition, forests provide services vital to a local population, such as control of erosion, steady provision of water across rainy and dry seasons, and regulation of rainfall. Taken together, the loss of these services to deforestation can upset local economies and subject local population to economic instability. International Latin America/Caribbean Europe North America International   Rainforest Alliance www.rainforest-alliance.org The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests for the benefit of the global community. Our mission is to develop and promote economically viable and socially desirable alternatives to the destruction of this endangered, biologically diverse natural resource. We pursue this mission through education, research in the social and natural sciences, and the establishment of cooperative partnerships with businesses, governments, and local peoples. Rainforest Action Network www.ran.org Since it was founded in 1985, the Rainforest Action Network has been working to protect tropical rainforests and the human rights of those living in and around those forests. From the beginning, the Network has played a key role in strengthening the worldwide rainforest conservation movement through supporting activists in tropical countries as well as organizing and mobilizing consumers and community action groups throughout the United States. Rainforest Foundation International www.savetherest.org Founded in 1989, The Rainforest Foundation International (RFI) was one of the first organizations to advocate the twin needs of protecting both the rainforests and the cultures that relied on them for their very survival. Latin America/Caribbean   Honduras Siempre Verde hsverde@ns.gbm.hn New Forests Project www.newforestsproject.com The New Forests Project (NFP) is a people-to-people, direct-action program established in 1982 in an effort to initiate reforestation and reduce deforestation. The New Forests Project provides farmers, community organizations, and environmental groups with the training and materials necessary to begin successful reforestation projects. They work in El Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, and Honduras. Europe   European Forest Institute www.efi.fi The European Forest Institute is an independent non-governmental organization conducting European forest research. Rainforest Foundation UK www.rainforestfoundationuk.org The mission of the Rainforest Foundation is to support indigenous people and traditional populations of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfil their rights by assisting them in securing and controlling the natural resources necessary for their long term well being and developing means to protect their individual and collective rights and to obtain, shape and control basic services from the state. The Royal Forestry Society www.rfs.org.uk The Royal Forestry Society is based in the UK and caters for all who care about forestry, forests, woodlands and trees, their husbandry and their future. North America   American Forests www.amfor.org American Forests is the oldest conservation organization in the United States today. For more than 120 years--since 1875--American Forests has worked to ensure a sustainable future for our nation's forests. Ecotrust www.ecotrust.org The mission of Ecotrust is to support the emergence of a conservation economy in the coastal temperate rain forest region of North America, which stretches from Northern California to SE Alaska. Ecotrust Canada www.ecotrustcan.org Ecotrust Canada is a private, non-profit organization developing creative and innovative approaches to conservation-based development in the coastal temperate rain forests of British Columbia.