BIA and Brazilian rainforest protection

Birmingham International is the UK’s sixth largest airport and has the highest proportion of business traffic second only to Heathrow. In 2006, it handled over nine million passengers through its two terminals

Did you know?

• Rainforests covers 6% of the earth’s land surface. Each year, 50 million acres - an area the size of the United Kingdom - are cut down, emitting around 6 billion tonnes of CO2 which is up to 25% of total human CO2 emissions (the aviation industry accounts for around 2%, by comparison).
• Cool Earth was launched in June 2007, with the support of Sir David Attenborough and Sir Nicholas Stern, in order to purchase endangered rainforest and keep it in local trusts, locking in the CO2 that would otherwise be released if the rainforest was burnt down. The charity has become Europe’s fastest growing environmental movement and has already secured more than 35,000 acres of the world’s most endangered rainforests.

What are we doing?

• Birmingham International Airport (BIA) has invested £20,000 to protect 180 acres of endangered rainforest in Brazil, locking-in nearly 50,000 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent used by the airport’s buildings over two years.
• The sponsorship also includes purchasing classroom equipment, solar powered internet, and a boat for a school in the heart of the Amazon called ‘Escola Estadual’, which serves communities in the state of Mato Grosso.

What is the result?

• BIA’s protection of 200 acres will also save 4,000 mature trees, over 17,000 saplings, 16 endangered animals, 322 types of plant and over 11,000 species of insect and worm.
• Loggers began cutting timber in Democracia, Brazil, in 2005, but since Cool Earth secured the forest, the area will be protected for at least the next 25 years.

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