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Adopt an Acre® Today to Help Preserve the Tropical Forests of East Africa’s Rift Valley

September 5, 2006

The Adopt an Acre® program is focusing this year’s project on the tropical forests of East Africa’s Rift Valley. The project, which launched in August 2006, protects a region of dense rainforest, breathtaking waterfalls and clear streams and rivers. These forests contain a huge diversity of life—from massive elephants to primates such as chimpanzees to top predators like leopards.

"The forests of the Rift Valley are one of Africa’s greatest treasures," said Sanjayan, lead scientist and acting head of the Africa program. "These forests are indispensable to the ecology of the region, and people and animals alike depend on these forests for their most basic needs, including clean drinking water."

Unfortunately, the human consumption of wood and increased agricultural development have reduced significantly the amount of forest cover in the region. At the turn of the 20th century, 30 percent of Kenya was covered in natural forests—today, the country’s forest cover is at slightly less than two percent.

As a result, streams and rivers, which need forests for a steady water supply, are drying up, forcing people and animals to travel farther and farther in search of drinking water. Additionally, erosion is causing topsoil to wash into the rivers and lakes, reducing agricultural productivity and threatening nearby villages with massive mudslides.

Funds raised through Adopt an Acre® will support Conservancy partnerships with like-minded organizations such as the Green Belt Movement and the Jane Goodall Institute to protect existing healthy forests and reforest bare landscapes.

We will engage local communities in forest restoration efforts, identify new places that are in need of protection and strengthen the enforcement of laws designed to protect natural resources. Our conservation efforts not only improve the outlook for Rift Valley wildlife, but also ensure access to fuel wood and clean water for the people who live there.

Learn more about the Adopt an Acre program and how you can get involved.

For More Information:

• How You Can Help: Adopt an Acre®
  Help us protect one of the world’s most diverse and fragile habitats. By donating to the Adopt an Acre® program, you will help the Conservancy protect and restore what remains of one of the world’s most extraordinary yet highly threatened forests.
• Places We Protect: Forests of the Rift Valley, East Africa
  Within this rainforest, leopards and elephants roam the floor while chimpanzees and black and white colobus monkeys hang in the canopies above. The tropical forests of East Africa’s Rift Valley are home to majestic waterfalls, rare plants and some of Mother Nature’s most wondrous creatures.
• Our Partners: Green Belt Movement, Jane Goodall Institute
  The mission of the Green Belt Movement International is to empower individuals worldwide to protect the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace. The Jane Goodall Institute advances the power of individuals to take informed and compassionate action to improve the environment of all living things.
• Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
  Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.