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Main image: Wildfire Relief Australia, ReForest Now
Ecosia, the not-for-profit search engine that uses profits to plant trees, is going to dedicate all revenue from searches on Tuesday 27 July towards wildfire restoration in Brazil, US and Australia as part of its Ecosia Wildfire Relief campaign.
Already, the 2021 wildfire season could prove to be the most devastating yet.
Wildfires in California are ‘off to a daunting start’, outpacing last year’s record levels and causing destruction and damage.
The Amazon rainforest now emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs because of the number of wildfires, which are often set deliberately to clear land for beef and soy production.
Ecosia has planted over 40,000 trees in the US and Australia, as well as a further 19 million in Brazil, to restore forests and help them become more resilient.
‘With 2021’s wildfire season already causing huge swathes of destruction and pain across the world, we felt we had to do something. Though we had already planned to plant 40,000 trees this year in areas affected by wildfires, by working with our users we plan to increase those efforts so we can plant more trees to help regenerate scarred lands and encourage resilience for local forests. Wildfires are one of the most swiftly devastating aspects of the climate crisis and we must do as much as we can to prevent them from happening.’
ANTONIA BUCHARD-LEVINE
Account manager, Ecosia Tree Planting Team
Alongside reforestation efforts in Brazil, the company has also invested over €400,000 in firefighting efforts with the ITPA, which puts out fires and protects the country’s trees.
This year, Ecosia has committed to planting 40,000 trees in areas affected by wildfires along with supporting organisations such as the ITPA.
The company wants to step up these efforts to ensure it can do as much as possible to restore areas devastated by the fires and ensure their resilience for the future.
Ecosia will dedicate all revenue from user searches on Tuesday 27 July to wildfire reforestation efforts in affected areas.
The last time the company did this was in January 2020, when Ecosia users funded the planting of 24,446 trees in Australia following the country’s devastating 2019/2020 wildfire season.
‘We have been fighting forest fires for 23 years. When we started, we were amateurs without infrastructure and gradually we have evolved towards adopting more professional and efficient methods – with the same strength and determination as we had in the beginning.
‘The Ecosia partnership is extraordinarily important to us. Ecosia recognised the importance of helping us fight the fires, because they understand the Brazilian reality, are always open to dialogues and have a strong commitment to innovation for the restoration of ecosystems.
‘We would have enormous difficulty in doing our work without Ecosia’s support. We are certain that each year we are winning the battle against fires and that we will be able to regenerate many forests.’
MAURICIO RUIZ
ITPA firefighter in Brazil
In 2019, Ecosia saw a sign-up increase of 1150% because of the terrible fires in the Amazon rainforest, with new users keen to contribute to the recovery efforts.
Ecosia plants native, biodiverse species to ensure sustainable and effective growth. It works with tree-planting partners in each location to support the local economy and provide meaningful employment to communities.
The trees are also monitored using satellite technology to make sure they survive.
‘Australia’s rainforests are suffering because of these dangerous fires. The species have little ability to cope, so what burns simply dies. If the fire is hot enough, then the seed bank in the soil will also be destroyed.
‘We’re working with Ecosia to restore the areas that have the highest annual rainfall as our priority and increase the water holding capacity of those areas such as restoring creeks, rivers and water springs.
‘Wet forests are harder to burn the wider and larger they are, so we need to protect and buffer existing rainforests to help make areas more resilient against wildfires.’
MAXIMO BOTTARO
CEO and co-founder at ReForest Now in Australia
You can search on the internet using Ecosia.org The ad revenue from every search will go towards planting trees across the world – currently around 45 searches plants one tree.
Users can also download the Ecosia app, or use it in their browser by making it their default search engine or downloading the browser extension.
WWF report released as latest figures reveal Amazon fires up more than 50% on the 10-year average.
UK supermarkets linked to 2020’s record-breaking fires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.
Three billion animals killed or displaced by Australia bushfire crisis.
New WWF and RSPB study reveals UK consumption is fuelling Amazon fires.
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