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© Christopher Beirne, University of Exeter and Crees Foundation 

Reynaldo Ochoa

Reynaldo - Rainforest Hero has won Best short film at the UN Forest Short Film Festival, the UK Green Film festival and Inkafest in Peru. Crees was honored to have been able to tell Reynaldo Ochoa`s s

Today is World Forest Day! Back in February, a few members of the society were privileged enough to go on a study tour with the college to the Manu Learning Centre in the Amazon Rainforest. Whilst there, they were lucky enough to meet one incredibly inspirational man called Reynaldo Ochoa. Reynaldo works with the Crees Foundation and local communities, and for the past 20 years he has dedicated his life to finding new ways of living in balance with his environment. By encouraging farmers to plant trees with their crops and enabling families to grow fresh organic produce he is helping to forge a sustainable future for the region, both protecting the environment and allowing local people to flourish. Since starting his project he has reached out to over 50 families, and whilst he said it has been difficult at times, he says he will not give up trying. It is important to not only help conserve the animals within our forests, whether it be in the Amazon or just down your road, but to also conserve the habitat in which they live. We saw first hand through our tree planting at Rspca Stapeley Grange Wildlife Hospital & Cattery how easy it is to set up new areas for wildlife to thrive in. We hope that many more people can 'take a leaf' out of Reynaldo's book and start something incredible. Please take 5 minutes to watch this video of Reynaldo's work. It has since won the UN Short Film Festival Award, and hopefully by sharing his video, more and more people will be aware of his work.