Rainforest Foundation raises awareness with 'hot and bothered' drive

LONDON - The Rainforest Foundation is calling on the public to recognise the role that the protection of the rainforests can play in tackling climate change with a campaign designed by Identica.

Identica devised the "hot and bothered" campaign theme, the logo and a bespoke typeface for use on all marketing collateral.

It also created flyers, buttons/banners, a dedicated appeal microsite, stickers and badges, T-shirts and branded promotional fans.

The campaign is designed to make the public more aware of the role that the world's rainforests can play in reducing carbon emissions, while demanding that even bigger steps be taken here in the UK.

An ICM poll commissioned by the Rainforest Foundation UK shows that more than half of the UK public wrongly believe that the destruction of the world's rainforests contributes less to climate change than air travel and domestic energy use.

The Rainforest Foundation claims deforestation releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year than all of the world's planes, trains and automobiles put together.

As part of the campaign the charity is also launching a virtual rainforest, which allows people to protect and personalise their own online acre for a £25 donation. Each online acre will help the body to place real acres of forest into the hands of the people that live there.

Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation, said: "At the current rate of destruction, deforestation contributes about as much to global greenhouse gas emissions annually as the entire United States, mostly from the loss of tropical forests.

"We need to get the public on board, but we recognise that this is about governments, not just individuals. We want to use the campaign to put pressure on world leaders and policy makers, as politicians have been debating so-called 'reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation' schemes at the G8 summit."

Johnny Gibson, marketing director at Identica, said: "This work has really engaged our team. We were asked to create an 'umbrella' campaign theme for all communications from newsletters to sponsorships and events -- to inform and raise awareness for the charity, to widen their appeal and, just as importantly, to lend a sense of urgency and a direct call to action."