Rainforest Action Network's Protect-an-Acre Program
221 Pine Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 398-4404

Contact:

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Correlation to CA State Content Standards for Science:
Grades 9-12
Biology #6
Earth Science #4, #5, #6, #7

Correlation to CA State Content Standards for Social Studies:
Grades 10-12
#10.13.4
#11.10.2

Rainforest Action Network created the Protect-an-Acre program in 1991 to conserve the ecological and cultural integrity of the rainforest and its inhabitants. Protect-an-Acre provides funding to help forest peoples gain control of their traditional lands through securing communal land title, marking boundaries, and implementing projects that maintain the ecological balance of the forest and strengthen the rights of its inhabitants. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) believes this is the most effective means of maintaining ecological and cultural integrity.

Protect-an-Acre is an alternative to "buy-an-acre" programs, which seek to provide permanent protection by buying tracts of rainforest land, but which generally do not address the priorities and rights of forest communities. Most "buy-an-acre" programs ignore the fact that there are people who live in and depend upon the forest. For example, there are few areas of the Amazon where communities of indigenous peoples, rubber tappers, and riverine people are not found. Most indigenous peoples have ancestral rights to the area, and have lived off the land sustainably for centuries.

Most funding for RAN's Protect-an-Acre program comes from students. To date, millions of acres of rainforest have been protected through the contributions made from classrooms and schools across the country. Fundraising for Protect-an-Acre can take on many forms. One simple way to raise money for the rainforests, is to ask ten people for one dollar each. Sometimes, they will offer more. Other effective ways to raise money are to hold a car wash, rummage sale, jog-a-thon, school dance, or rainforest play. Recycling aluminum for cash or selling Rainforest Crunch candy are other ways to raise money.

If you would like more information on RAN's Protect-an-Acre program, visit our website at http://www.ran.org/ and look under "What You Can Do" or else mail donations directly to: Rainforest Action Network, Protect-an-Acre, 221 Pine Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104