Size of Wales is a charity organization founded by Hannah Scrase together with her fellow environmentalists. The organization is based in Llanidloes. They aim to save the rainforest in Africa that is similar in size to the Wales, which is 20,780 square kilometers in size or 2,078,000 hectares. And with the generous support from the public, they were able to raise £1 million, which was matched by the Waterloo Foundation, a charitable institution based in Cardiff. The group started the organization three years ago and they have proudly announced on March 1, 2013 that they have achieved their goal, having raised a total of £2 million after three years.
Reason for the foundation
These environmentalists were often annoyed that the media have always used Wales when rainforests in several parts of the world are destroyed. They would usually say, “A rainforest the size of Wales and England has been destroyed.” While they may have been irritated being used as a comparative point when delivering news about forest destruction, now the comparison would be on a positive note.
Aim
Aside from managing the funds that have been raised to protect more than two million hectares covered by rainforests in Africa and other areas, they would also like other groups in Europe to raise funds like they did, to save rainforests the size of Europe, rather than just those that are “the size of Wales and England.” Already there are talks that Ireland and Denmark would soon be embarking in a copycat project.
Hannah Scrase also added that it would be a good idea to have Europe and its people raise funds for similar projects since Europe has contributed in the destruction of rainforests for centuries.
They are also planning on educational programs to educate the Welsh population on man’s impact on tropical forests and the high carbon emissions caused by their denudation.
Fund management
The fund that the organization managed to raise will be used to implement the 20 projects that have already been planned. These include securing the land rights for the community, securing the protected areas and programs for forest conservation by the community. They would also embark on low-scale conversion of bare lands into forests.
Other projects
While the group was busy collecting donations, organizers and other groups were also busy supporting the efforts in tackling climate change. The Countryside Council for Wales has lent their expertise and resources to Size of Wales.
Representatives of the Size of Wales have visited Kenya, coordinating with WWF project executive, Elias Kimaru and Kaya Muhaka group representative, Sururu Lagiza to launch biodiversity projects in Kenya’s Kwale District.
The success achieved by Size of Wales will have an immense impact in tropical forest conservation. If groups around the world start a project such as this, then global warming, deforestation, high carbon dioxide emissions and other calamities caused by the destruction of forests will be hugely minimized. And that is saying a lot, since the Size of Wales is comparatively a small organization that had gone global, that conducted most of its calls via Skype since it does not have a telephone line.
Video by sizewales
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