Big response to WWF forest blaze appeal
The World Wildlife Fund, WWF, has collected 30,000 euros to combat forest fires in the Amazonian rain forest in Brazil.
Forest fires are devastating the region. The cash is urgently needed and will be used to provide direct aid by-passing the Brazilian authorities.
WWF Belgium launched its appeal last Friday. G7 nations also raised 22 million euros at the weekend, but the Brazilian president is rejecting this aid. WWF’s Koen Stuyck insists that his organisation’s aid will reach local people as WWF has local branches: “We hope the fund will receive more cash because it is urgently needed. We are supporting local villagers who lost their homes and their livelihoods. We will also purchase equipment for park wardens and volunteers fighting the blazes. At the minute this is happening by people without the proper equipment. We’re also backing ecological projects.”