Carrie’s eco warriors seek help to buy rainforest

CARRIE SYMONDS, the Prime Minister’s girlfriend, has backed a group of British schoolchildren who are at the forefront of plans to buy a tract of rainforest in Ecuador to protect endangered animals at risk from deforestation.

Ms Symonds praised the “inspiring” young people, who are following the lead of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate-change activist.

The young eco warriors say they are on a mission to “set an example” to adults and politicians by using their own money for environmental causes. They hope to raise £2.4million within a year to buy a 1,219-acre plot in the Choco Forest. It would be the world’s first youth-funded nature reserve.

Bella Lack, 16, a UK council member of the NGO Reserva, said: “We have realised it is important to speak up and hold all generations accountable to create a new system that doesn’t endanger the environment and wildlife.

“We want to set an example and say that if young people are using their financial power to do such things, politicians should do the same thing.”

Bella, praised by Ms Symonds at her Birdfair speech last week, spends much of her time on marches and organising climate protests, as well as raising awareness of animal extinction and trophy hunting on social media.

“Greta Thunberg is really inspiring, she’s had an influence unparalleled by other activists,” Bella said. “But Carrie and Stanley [Johnson] both do so much for conservation. I’m so happy she’s in the position she is. Hopefully Boris will follow along in their influence.”

Alex White, also 16, has just published a book, Get Your Boots On, with a foreword by Chris Packham, the BBC Springwatch presenter. He aims to get fellow teenagers off phones and computers and out experiencing wildlife.

Alex, who lives in Oxfordshire, said: “Lots of teenagers have ‘ come out’ as interested in wildlife. They have come to understand it’s a hobby like football.”

Eight-year-old Rebecca Bailey, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, champions the charity Butterfly Conservation and has turned her playhouse into a sanctuary. “I feel proud when I release the butterflies into the wild,” she said.

The group has a crowdfunding appeal where they hope a million children will each give £2.50 to buy the land.