Through the ongoing and tenacious efforts of visionary entrepreneur, musician and social activist David Plattner, The RainTrust Organization was created in 2004. He has served as Founder, CEO and Chief Visionary "Rainman". Originally established in New York City later found it's home found in Manaus Brazil when David produced the first "Eco Nomic" conference on sustainability in the rainforest. Since then, he has spent every waking moment, making a substantial financial personal investment of his own resources to pursue the mission along with a handful of other committed colleagues and friends.
“Like many supporters of our environment, I was drawn to the plight and promise of the Amazon. Like all of us, I’d read about the Amazon as "the lungs" of our planet, that the vast region’s future is at risk and with it, our own futures. The crisis in the Amazon threatened our entire planet. I heard that every day, 240 square miles of rainforest were being destroyed equivalent to the size of Tokyo, every 24 hours. Many experts warned that at the current rate of degradation, the Amazon rainforest's existing biodiversity will reach the point of no return between 2012 and 2016.
The challenge for me was to abandon all ideas of putting the rainforest under a glass cover, but rather to create a responsible business-oriented model capable of convincing local stakeholders that an alternative to destructive land uses is desirable and economically possible. Simultaneously, we needed to engage world interest, attract investment and promote development. Over the years we have been able to attract an impressive array of experts across all spectrums of sustainability globally with our model proven to be an economic win-win-win.”
Today, David Plattner proudly states that the original mission and strategic Eco Nomic quest of the past many years has finally caught the world attention that have now embraced his agenda. Over the last 6 years he has traveled the world over 20 times assembling the right programs, agendas and experts in a variety of related fields and disciplines. (see advisory team) The development of the RainTrust model has involved thousands of hours in meetings, conferences, and a range of extraordinary circumstances, numerous corporations, groups and individuals who have recognized the power and validity of the initiative and have committed and see RainTrust as a serious and high impact international Conservation Organization and a vehicle for all stakeholders to be engaged and share in the RainTrust Triple Bottom Line agenda.
Reinforcing the themes of the model over the past 6 years, David and other key members of the RainTeam, have extensively toured internationally giving lectures and speeches on the “Eco-Nomics of Global Warming” and further acknowledgement of David as a pioneer and leader in the field. In 2010 David is recently the recipient of the prestigious "Gusi Peace Prize" recognizing his tireless efforts.
