A forest saved by children... The dream began in 1987 at a small, primary school in rural Sweden. It was the study of tropical forests and the rapidity of their destruction that prompted a teacher and a nine year old student to want to do something about it. Soon the children, guided by their teacher, launched a campaign to raise money to purchase threatened rain forest adjacent to the Monteverde preserve in Costa Rica. Within two years their initial 6 hectare purchase grew to 7,258 hectares. As the spirit sweeps across other lands, more groups are forming and individual contributions arrive from the far corners of the globe.
THE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S RAINFOREST NETWORK:
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Today, The International Children's Rainforest Network (ICRN) is a
student-teacher organization dedicated to the protection of rainforests.
For the past five years, this network has been purchasing land in
developing tropical countries, and creating protected reserves.
The best known is the First Children's Rainforest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. It has been purchased partly by funds donated by school children from Sweden, England, the U.S.A., Japan, Germany and Canada. The result is that over 7,000 hectares of pristine cloud forest habitat are now protected. To ensure its survival, environmentalists have established a research and educational center to educate and serve the community. Teachers and students from all over the world use the facilities on ecology trips. It is a great example of Global Education! In this area, farmers and scientists are working to find ways to preserve forests and crops.
In 1994, a second Children's Rainforest was established in Amazonian Ecuador. 'The Jatun Sacha Bioreserve' covers 3000 hectares, and has become an educational centre as well.
