Protecting wildlife could significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of destructive forest wildfires. Plant-eating wild animals reduce the amount of grass that can fuel fires through grazing. In Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in South Africa, for example, one of the world’s largest grazers, the white rhinoceros, has been known to reduce the spread and intensity of fire, especially after high rainfall when grass grows more rapidly.

Furthermore, large wild grass-eaters such as elephants, zebras, rhinos and camels do not produce so much methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as domestic livestock. This is because they digest grass in a different way than livestock – using a large, single stomach rather than regurgitating their food.

But that's not all. Wildlife can also help forests to store carbon more efficiently. Many tree species in tropical rainforests rely on animals like elephants and toucans to eat their large, fleshy fruits – and so help disperse their seeds. Trees with large fruits can grow taller than those with small fruits, making them more effective in trapping carbon. Studies show that the loss of such trees results in as much as a 10 per cent drop in the carbon storage potential of tropical forests.