Probably a lot of reasons behind it (and maybe charities like that do exist -- there are a lot of charities out there) but some countries do not allow foreign o

Probably a lot of reasons behind it (and maybe charities like that do exist -- there are a lot of charities out there) but some countries do not allow foreign ownership of land. I believe Mexico you can only get a 99 year lease on land when you "buy" there. Another reason might be distrust of government. Some countries with rain forests do not have the most stable governments (do they seem to be less stable the closer to the equator you get?) and it would be a shame to buy up a lot of land only to have it nationalized or laws not enforced (owners aren't here so who is to stop me from logging it?) when government changes.