Forest Twinning

Twin your school, village or land with the purchase and protection of threatened rainforest in the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot. Although the Tropical Andes covers just 1% of the Earth’s surface, it is more biodiverse and home to more amphibians, birds and mammals than anywhere else on the planet.

How it works

Landowners, including schools, businesses and other organisations are invited to measure their land and twin its acreage (or part acreage) with the equivalent hectares of tropical forest. Every acre of land you twin with rainforest will therefore protect approximately 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of threatened tropical forest habitat.

About Forest Twinning

Working with local communities, Rainforest Concern has identified areas of land available to purchase adjacent to the 2,500 hectare Neblina Cloud Forest Reserve in NW Ecuador, which will further extend the reserve and the wider Choco-Andean Biodiversity Corridor.

By twinning your land with a donation to Rainforest Concern to purchase tropical forest, you will not only preserve fragile forest habitat threatened by the relentless expansion of agriculture and mining, but also the countless species of threatened animals and plants that live there, including spectacled bears, puma, toucans, ocelots and breeding pairs of one of the world’s most endangered eagles. New species have recently been discovered in the region, such as the confusing rocket frog and the olinguito, a member of the raccoon family.

Twinning costs

Twinning costs are currently £385 per acre or £950 per hectare, which includes the purchase of the land, three years’ forest protection and maintenance, legal costs and a contribution towards our forest education projects. NB: 1 acre is 4,046.86 m² and 1 hectare is 2.47 acres.

CALCULATE YOUR ACREAGE HERE

The Neblina Reserve, Ecuador

The Neblina Cloud Forest Reserve is a high-altitude rainforest located in the Tropical Andes global biodiversity hotspot near Quito in NW Ecuador. Teeming with wildlife, the reserve is unusually rich in orchids and is home to a wide range of endangered animals, including spectacled bears, ocelots, puma and toucans. The cloud forests are also home to recently discovered species such as the olinguito and longnose harlequin frog, previously thought to be extinct.

Wildlife corridors

The Forest Twinning project will enable us to extend the Neblina Cloud Forest Reserve and contribute to the expansion of the wider Choco-Andean Biodiversity Corridor, which extends from Ecuador into Southwest Colombia, creating vital ecological corridors linking the Neblina Reserve to other protected forests in the region.

Education – Ecuador

A contribution from each twinned hectare will help to fund educational field trips for local Ecuadorian schoolchildren, many of whom have never ventured into a cloud forest before. Our team in Ecuador arrange transport, meals and guided trips into the Reserve to share the wonders of the rainforest, giving children a greater understanding of the importance of protecting this rare cloud forest habitat for future generations.

Education – UK

We have created a series of education resources for schools to download from the Rainforest Concern website and aim to create an interactive rainforest experience for UK schoolchildren, subject to further funding.

Bath woodland twinned with Ecuadorian cloud forest

One of our first Forest Twinning projects was the 12 acre Sirius Wood in Bath, which landowner Peter Hawkins twinned with 12 hectares of cloud forest. This enabled Rainforest Concern to purchase land adjacent to the Neblina Cloud Forest Reserve to expand the protected forest area for spectacled bears and other rare and endangered species.

Peter Hawkins said: “ We are delighted to twin our British woodland with globally important tropical rainforest. It’s exciting to see forest being bought and maintained by the local community as a result of our donation and to know that so many endangered rare plants and animals will now be protected for generations to come. We hope this pioneer project will lead to many other British woodlands being twinned with precious rainforest habitat.”

Professor Peter Hawkins, Chairman of Renewal Associates, The Renewal Foundation and The Sirius Wood Project