Green Sky
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Wildlife and farmers alike in an area of Amazon rainforest the size of Belgium have a brighter, more sustainable future thanks to our six-year partnership with Sky, says WWF’s Sarah Hutchison.

Our hugely successful Sky Rainforest Rescue partnership ended in 2015. During its six years, the initiative has helped to ensure that a billion trees remain standing in the Amazon – at our project site in Acre, north-west Brazil. 

It’s been a great success in fundraising terms, too. The initiative has raised more than £9m, including £4m in ‘matched funding’ from Sky. Such incredible generosity has enabled us to fund work that will mean some 3.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions will have been avoided during the partnership. And it’s helped us ensure thousands of people there are now earning a more sustainable living, without having to cut trees down.

We worked with more than 1,500 small-scale farmers to help establish or boost sustainable livelihoods. For instance, we’ve encouraged farmers to grow a wider variety of crops and keep their soil fertile – which avoids the need to clear additional forest to create new planting areas. We’ve enabled local rubber tappers who harvest liquid latex from wild trees to produce a higher value form of rubber. And we’ve helped to create better market conditions and prices for other forest products such as acai berries, which has increased local incomes. 

I was lucky enough to visit the project area several times, and met a number of farmers and rubber tappers. Among them were many shining examples of farming families who’ve made the move to agroforestry and haven’t burnt their land for many years. One such farmer, nicknamed Chico Bravo, proudly showed us his impressive cassava harvest. His farm is now a study site for other farmers to see. He also supports the local school, allowing them to put theory into practice on his land.

And, in the rubber tapping families, I was heartened to meet women who are now able to get more actively involved, as they help produce the latex sheets and turn some of them into handicrafts. 

Our schools programme in the region also raised environmental awareness among the next generation of Acre farmers. The children I encountered were all so passionate about the forest: they write amazing poems about it and share the knowledge they’ve gained with their parents. 

I also feel great admiration for the technical team (the partners of WWF) who have shown incredible dedication to supporting these farming families. They venture to seriously remote areas that are sometimes hours or even days by boat, or via small mud tracks. 

Together, WWF and Sky also brought the wonders of the Amazon to life rather closer to home – through interactive experiences such as discovery trails at Forestry Commission sites and an installation at the Eden Project in Cornwall. In the UK and Ireland, 80,000 schoolchildren took part in Sky and WWF’s ‘I Love Amazon Schools’ programme. And eight inspiring programmes – including Richard Hammond’s Jungle Quest – have reached millions of viewers on Sky. These viewers were encouraged to make forest-friendly changes to their everyday lives. 

Sky Rainforest Rescue has been a fabulous initiative to be part of. I feel proud to have been part of something that’s built lasting projects that will continue beyond the partnership. The knowledge that’s been gained during the project will inform future conservation work here. And the funds raised will continue to protect this irreplaceable rainforest – and the wildlife and people who depend on it.

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