Conservation International

Of course activists, politicians, music artists, actors, and anyone else with a caring voice is speaking out: the destruction must cease, or we will all soon be history. Fortunately, an organization called Conservation International, in addition to speaking out, is taking very effective action.

“I have never been associated with a group of people who continue to have such ambitious goals, and continue to make such progress toward those goals,” says conservationist and legendary actor Harrison Ford, in a video posted on Conservation International’s website. And if one examines the facts, it’s quite true. In its relatively short life, Conservation International has managed to preserve some 500 million acres on land and sea—an area large enough to be viewed from space.

Conservation International operates in a unique way—working with indigenous peoples and local governments, in a manner calculated to help them help themselves. For example, CI worked for almost 10 years directly with communities and local authorities around Madagascar’s Zahamena National Park, helping to provide them with sustainable economic alternatives to deforestation before turning control of the park over to them.

In another example, after CI research findings determined it a top conservation priority, Bolivia created Madidi National Park, one of the largest national parks on Earth. Instrumental in the park’s creation was a massive awareness campaign launched by CI, including a documentary that reached 3 million television viewers. In 2000, CI and its partners convinced Peru to expand the park to the point where more than 7.4 million contiguous acres have now become protected.

Probably the singular aspect that gives CI its “edge” is its work with partners such as 3M, who in October 2004 committed $3 million to supporting CI’s strategy for forest restoration in China, and Mitsubishi, with whom CI is working on climate solutions that also protect biodiversity and sustain livelihoods. Numerous other partners, large and small, are also working with CI in their effort to, in their own words, “conserve the earth’s living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.”

Along with corporations, several notable entertainment groups have become involved with CI’s “Conservation Carbon” project designed to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, in response to the Kyoto Protocol and other initiatives to reduce global warming.

The Dixie Chicks, to balance out emissions associated with their 2006 tour as well as their own personal emissions, are funding forest protection efforts being conducted through the Makira Forest Project. CI is working on this project with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of Madagascar to permanently protect 350,000 hectares (850,000 acres) of tropical rain forest in the northeast region of Madagascar.

World-renowned rock act Pearl Jam is also offsetting the emissions associated with the band’s 2006 tour with contributions that will be used to restore up to 30 hectares of degraded tropical forests in northwestern Ecuador. As this regenerated forest grows, it will absorb more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the next 30 years and provide habitat protection for endangered plant and animal species as well as direct support for local communities. Pearl Jam also offset the 5,700 tons of CO2 emissions generated by their 2003 concert tour through an investment in CI’s Conservation Carbon project. This funding supported a joint project between CI and the Wildlife Conservation Society to protect rain forests in northeastern Madagascar.

Yes, great effort is indeed being taken to solve global warming before it solves mankind. If you would like to become involved, visit Conservation International’s website.