Earth Blog

The Sumatran rhino is “critically endangered” according to the ICUN Red List because poaching -primarily to obtain their horns- has severely depleted the rhino population making it difficult for them to successfully breed in the wild. It is estimated that less than two hundred Sumatran rhinos remain in Southeast Asia and most live in Indonesia’s national parks where they can be protected and still live in a natural habitat. 

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Kambas Way National Park, Indonesia has a handful of rhinos thanks to conservation efforts from the International Rhino Foundation, the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia and Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry.

One dollar plants one tree in the depleted Atlantic Forest of Brazil through The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program.  The tropical rainforest is one of the largest and contains a high number of endangered species including the maned sloth. Despite the detrimental effects of illegal logging and urban expansion, namely fragmentation - the term for the forest’s current patchwork state which makes it difficult for animals to survive, several unique species continue living in the forest. The Nature Conservancy hopes to plant a billion trees by 2015 to help restore the forest, stabilize the global climate, and prevent global warming. 

A selection of the trees being planted are presented on the site and include: The Brazil Golden Trumpet Tree, Ice Cream Bean Tree (unfortunately not the source of ice cream), Capororoca Tree, or the rare Guapuruvu Tree found nowhere else on the planet.