Orangutan in Borneo.
A number of conservation groups have partnered up to deliver a full day of rainforest wildlife viewing via social media.
Rainforest: Live 2015 involves 17 NGOs that are sharing wildlife sightings and other rainforest experiences with the public to raise awareness about conservation efforts globally, although most of the groups represented work in Asia.
“So much of the media coverage of rainforests is negative, concentrating on habitat and species losses,” said Matt Williams of the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop), which initiated the Rainforest: Live 2015 concept last year. “While this is important, Rainforest: Live is designed to focus on the diversity of life in forests and the amazing species that conservationists are fighting to protect. It is to remind us all why they’re worth saving.”
To participate, users are asked to use the hashtag #rainforestlive on Facebook and Twitter or visit the initiative’s Storify page. The event lasts all day today, June 19th.
“Through my career as a wildlife cameraman I have been fortunate enough to visit and film in some splendid rainforests. It is an environment that I feel remarkably at home in and am constantly surprised and thrilled by the hidden beauty and complexity of life that has evolved to live and thrive there,” said Gavin Thurston, a wildlife filmmaker, in a statement. “I realize that not everyone is lucky enough to visit a rainforest in their lifetime so I am delighted that Rainforest: Live will give many people the opportunity to experience this incredible and diverse world. I’m excited to see what wildlife will show up live from the rainforest.”