Vivienne Westwood and Pamela Anderson Works to Protect Rainforests

To celebrate the fifth birthday of the charity organisation working to protect rainforests - Cool Earth - Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, along with fashion guru Vivienne Westwood, was at an event at the House of Lords on May 30. The celebrity duo accompanied Cool Earth founder Frank Field, MP.

The other guests at the party to save the rainforests were an eclectic mix, ranging from students who sponsored a handful of endangered trees to celebrities such as Jacquetta Wheeler, Jerry Hall and Eliza Doolittle, who are helping to raise the profile of Cool Earth's efforts to tackle deforestation.

Cool Earth was founded with the goal of saving 5,000 acres of rainforest at immediate risk from logging. Since then, the organisation has gained immense popularity with 44 indigenous community partners working to keep 250,000 acres of rainforest (shielding a further 2.5 million acres of forest) standing.

"Cool Earth has a plan to save the rainforest and if we don't save the rainforest we can forget about it, we won't save the planet," said Westwood, who donated £1mn to Cool Earth earlier this year. She then introduced Pamela Anderson, who was in talks with Field over becoming the charity's US envoy and taking the campaign to the US.

"Saving rainforest really is the important issue and supporting Cool Earth is an effective way to take action," stated Pamela who protected 70 acres of rainforest, with Cool Earth, for Westwood's 70th birthday last year.

Cool Earth's approach to rainforest protection works by empowering indigenous communities that are on the frontline of deforestation so they are best placed to protect their forest. By creating sustainable incomes, Cool Earth works to ensure the forests are worth more to the local people kept standing than cleared for timber.

This mode of operation has interested communities from across the globe and many have partnered with Cool Earth to keep their trees intact. This year, Cool Earth will be starting three new rainforest projects spanning three continents.