Green, eco-friendly charities and environmental organisations
There are many different environmental charities and organisations dedicated to helping protect the rainforests, endangered species, wildlife and habitats, promoting fair trade and eradicating poverty in the third world. For a fairly modest amount you can play your part in helping to protect the planet - sponsor an orang-utan, buy a piece of rainforest, educate a child or help provide tools for farmers and lift them out of poverty. By pooling together donations, however small, we can collectively make a difference.
"I am not here as a public official, but as a citizen of a troubled world who finds hope in a growing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace, freedom, human rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering, and the rule of law." - Jimmy Carter, Nobel Lecture
The mission of WWF - the global environment network - is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment, and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world's biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; reducing pollution and wasteful consumption.
Founded 70 years ago, Plan is one of the largest child-centred community development organisations in the world. With no religious or political affiliations, Plan works with children, their families and communities to make lasting improvements to their lives.
The World Land Trust is a conservation charity that has helped purchase and protect over 300,000 acres of rainforest and other threatened environments worldwide.
ActionAid is one of the UK’s largest international development charities, helping poor children, families and the environment in over 35 of the world’s poorest countries.
Greenpeace stands for positive change through action, defending the natural world and promoting peace. They investigate, expose and confront environmental abuse by governments and corporations around the world. They champion environmentally responsible and socially just solutions,including scientific and technical innovation. Their goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity.
FYF has been working since 1960 with the poorest rural communities in India and Malawi to build stable livelihoods and access services that will enable them to develop long-term solutions to their poverty. Using their own skills and knowledge, FYF assists poor communities to increase their levels of food production and income and improve their access to healthcare, education and clean water so that they can create a better future for themselves. www.fyf.org.uk/
Friends of the Earth. Making life better for people by inspiring solutions to environmental solutions. www.foe.co.uk
Oxfam GB is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation that works with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world.
EveryChild is an international development charity committed to protecting the rights of the world's most vulnerable and marginalised children. Across 17 countries they fight to protect the most vulnerable and excluded children, giving them the chance to grow up in loving families with a safe and secure future. In all their projects they aim to innovate to bring about lasting, positive change in partnership with communities and governments.
The People's Trust for Endangered Species is a conservation charity working to ensure a future for endangered and threatened species worldwide. They help tigers in Sumatra, hawksbill sea turtles around South America, water voles, dormice and red squirrels in the UK and many other species besides. The loss of biodiversity worldwide has a direct impact on us all: it affects food supplies and water availability; it limits the search for new medicines; it increases our vulnerability to natural disasters and heightens the effects of climate change. Through scientific research, exploring practical solutions and funding direct conservation work we can make a real difference. www.ptes.org
The Converging World invests in renewable energy projects in the developing world. All the profits from these are used to fund clean, sustainable development at a community level. www.theconvergingworld.org
CCC is an award-winning not-for-profit organisation that sends teams of volunteers to survey some of the world’s most endangered coral reefs and rainforests. Since its establishment in 1986, thousands of volunteers of all ages have participated in CCC expeditions throughout the South East Asia, the PacificIslands and the Caribbean. Volunteers play a crucial role in the conservation of threatened tropical environments by collecting valuable scientific information, which is used to help formulate sustainable management recommendations, for the benefit of local communities and all those with a stake in the natural resource. www.coralcay.org/
The Eternal Forest Trust nurtures life within woodlands, helping everyone to celebrate nature, including the disabled and young people. The Trust, based on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales, offers woodland burials and dedicates plots and trees in memoriam and celebration. www.eternalforest.org/
Tools for Self Reliance supports grassroots development projects in Africa by providing practical help to practical people.
Working with partner organisations, they deliver effective, targeted aid to people in poor communities. This allows people to start up or expand their small businesses, giving them the means to afford a living, send their children to school and build a better future for themselves and their families. Tools for Self Reliance raise money to provide business skills and other training, and each year they ship tens of thousands of refurbished tools and sewing machines to projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Malawi. www.tfsr.org/
Forests.org works to end deforestation, preserve primary and old-growth forests, conserve and sustainably manage other forests, and to commence the age of ecological restoration. www.forests.org/
