‘This makes no sense’: Jeff Bezos responds after rainforest activist spent 20 years protecting the Amazon but was barred from using the word

Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, has stepped in to help a rainforest activist who was blocked from using the word “Amazon” in his fundraising campaigns.

Paul Rosolie, a conservationist working in Peru with JungleKeepers.org, has spent 20 years protecting the Amazon rainforest. Despite this, his organization was not allowed to use the word “Amazon” in Google Ads because of a trademark issue.

Rosolie has been working with local indigenous communities to protect the region from loggers, gold miners, and narco traffickers. So far, he has managed to get 117,000 acres protected. The Peruvian government has said that if its team can reach 300,000 acres, it can turn the area into a national park, which would protect millions of wildlife, uncontacted indigenous people, and undiscovered medicines.

The problem, as Rosolie explained in a video directed at Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez, is that his organization cannot use the word “Amazon” in any of their promotional efforts, not “Amazon Rainforest,” not “Peruvian Amazon,” nothing. He then asked Bezos to help spread the word and support their fundraising push to expand the protected area.

Bezos responded quickly and offered to personally help sort out the Google Ads issue

Bezos saw the message and responded, giving Rosolie full permission to use the word “Amazon” and offering to help fix the problem with Google Ads. His response was short and direct: “This makes no sense. Having the team reach out to help.” The official Amazon account also quickly replied, confirming that someone from their team would sort it out right away. 

Bezos has been making headlines recently, and his Washington Post entering a new editorial direction is one of the bigger stories surrounding him this year. The core issue here is that Google Ads does not appear to recognize the Amazon Rainforest as something separate from Bezos’ Amazon corporation. This is a straightforward platform recognition problem, and one that should have been avoidable from the start. 

Organizations working to protect the Amazon rainforest should not have to fight a trademark battle just to mention where they operate. Hopefully, that distinction will be made clearer as a result of this situation. As of now, JungleKeepers.org has raised $11,768,418 out of their total goal of $34,000,000, which is the amount needed to buy additional land and establish a new protected national park in the Peruvian Amazon.

Rosolie’s video plea was not asking Bezos to personally fund the entire project. He was simply asking for the ability to use the word “Amazon” in Google Ads so that his organization could promote its work and reach more donors.

It is worth noting that this issue only got resolved after the message reached Bezos directly. Without that viral moment, JungleKeepers.org would likely still be blocked from using the word in their ads, making it much harder to reach their fundraising goal. Bezos has had quite a lot going on in his personal life as well, with his recent wedding celebration spinning out of control, making news around the world.

Bezos is currently the fourth-wealthiest person in the world. His net worth has grown by $33.1 billion over the past year, and he earns between $78 million and $190 million per day, depending on market conditions. The remaining $22.3 million needed to complete the land purchase and create the national park is an amount he would earn while sleeping.