See It, Save It

September 2010

    Birthright Earth in the running to receive $50,000 Pepsi grant (0)        9/01/10

    UPDATE: September 1, 2010 – Due to a technical issue with our eligibility for a Pepsi grant, our project is not listed. More Updates coming soon.

    August 10, 2010 – Birthright Earth – Birthright Earth is through to the second round of the Pepsi Refresh Project. From September 1, 2010 to September 30, 2010, Birthright Earth will be in the running to receive a grant of $50,000 from Pepsi.

    About the Pepsi Refresh Grant

    Pepsi awards $1.3 million a month to fund projects and ideas. Each month, up to 32 potential Pepsi Refresh Grant
    Recipients are selected from a pool of 1000 applicants. The grants are awarded as follows: 2 Grants at the $250,000 level; 10 Grants at the $50,000 level; 10 Grants at the $25,000 level; and 10 Grants at the $5,000 level.

    Want to be a part of it? Here is how to help BE

    Grant recipients are selected according to the total number of votes their project receives from the first of the month, to the end of that month. To vote, you need to visit the Pepsi Refresh Project website and take two minutes to first register and then vote. Birthright Earth’s month is September and on September 1, 2010, you will be able to start voting. Every day, you can login and vote once for BE.

    Voting for Birthright Earth will not begin for another 3 weeks and so in the last week of August, lookout for more information from us on how you can vote and help us win this essential award. We need your support and your daily vote.

    With your vote we will see it, understand it, experience it, and save it.

    BE & Pepsi press release

    BE Launches New Website (1)        9/01/10

    Birthright Earth is proud to announce it’s new partnership with BluesandHaikus.org! Together we have been working on an new website.

    Sura Hart, the Website and Digital Director, has created our new site with much more dynamic content on a platform that will allow us to grow the website as we grow as an organization. We are excited to have this new online presence so that we can communicate our mission and updates quickly and effectively.

    Check out some of the new features, like the Flash Slideshow on the home page which tells the story of Birthright Earth. Also, stay tuned for an interactive map with all of the destinations on each trip!

    In collaboration with Blues & Haikus, we can better see it, understand it, love it, and save it.

    Contact: surahart@gmail.com

July 2010

    New e-book features Birthright Earth and green initiatives (0)        7/29/10

    July 29, 2010 – 10 Top 10 Lists for Going Green, a new e-book that provides information, ideas, and contacts to people interested in leading greener lives, has selected Birthright Earth as an organization listed in its inaugural publication. In addition to being a guide to people looking to live increasingly sustainable lives, 10 Top 10 Lists for Going Green is also a fundraiser for green non-profits, and donates 50% of its sales to supported causes. Over 3000 projects and websites were reviewed and a final 100 were chosen to be featured in the e-book.

    The e-book is broken down into 10 chapters (or lists), each providing you with ways to be green in different
    aspects of life. The list categories range from ways to be green with your garbage or in your garden, to ways to be
    green with your pets and in your home. Birthright Earth can be found in list 1, which highlights ways that children,
    teens, and young adults can green their lives.

    About 10 Top 10 Lists for Going Green

    All of the projects in the 10 Top 10 Lists series, including 10 Top 10 Lists For Going Green, are divisions of BellaLife Studios, a Canadian company. There are 11 lists in total dealing with a variety of topics and causes. With the purchase of each list, BellaLife Studios donates 50% of sales (not profits) to selected and related projects.
    Launched in 2009, 10 Top 10 Lists For Cat Lovers was the first of the 11 lists and it has since been able to donate to 59 different cat rescues and shelters with more joining and benefitting each month. For more information, please visit http://www.earth.10top10lists.com/About_Us.php.

    About Birthright Earth

    Birthright Earth is a New York based environmental non-profit that sends 18-26 year olds to the Amazon rainforest
    for free. Birthright Earth believes it the birthright of every individual or generation to be able to enjoy, experience,
    and care for the beauties of nature in their time. The organization has grown around the conviction that a
    generation that destroys such beauties erodes the birthright not only of itself, but also of future generations.
    The organization believes that direct exposure to the rare and fragile eco-systems of the South American rain
    forest will provide the impetus for younger generations to become more environmentally conscious. Our aim is to
    lead in the development of an active movement of young adults, passionate and dedicated to the conservation of
    crucial ecosystems, and actively working in support of steps to mitigate global warming and other man-induced
    environmental hazards.

    In collaboration with 10 Top 10 Lists for Going Green, we can better see it, understand it, experience it, and save it.

    10 Top 10 lists Press release

May 2010

    Congratulations to Birthright Earth 2010 Graduates! (0)        5/29/10

    Birthright Earth is an organization powered by young people. Over the past two weeks, we’ve had   several  members of our team graduate and we wanted to take a moment to say how proud we are of their accomplishment!

    Eli Bronner and Ram Sivalingam both donned the Cardinal red cap and gown in Middletown, CT last weekend as graduates of Wesleyan University. Our esteemed vice president and co-founder, Eli graduates with a degree in East Asian Studies and is heading to Manhattan where he’ll work with a tech start-up as well as continue a significant role with BE. Our newest Board Member, Ram graduates with a major in Economics and East Asian Studies and will also be in New York, spending his days on the trading desk at Deutsche Bank and his evenings repping BE to the Titans of Industry.

    In Washington D.C. earlier this month, Louis Aronne – one half of our two-man campus rep coordination team – graduated from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Louis’ double major in Finance and International Business will allow him to keep saving the world in a variety of ways! Louis will pursue a career in finance and contribute some of that knowledge to BE, where he’ll take on a further role in the financing and development of the organization.

    This weekend Daphne Earp will march in her first P-rade as a 2010 graudate from Princeton University. Daphne is currently weighing post-grad options and her double major in Operations Research and Financial Engineering will certainly serve her well. We hope to have Daphne more involved on the BE side of things as our trips get under way and the Operations aspect of BE becomes a focus for the team.

    Even though he’s moved on from BE, we also want to shout out Ed Giese who graduated with a major in Political Science from the University of Delaware.

    Congratulations Graduates! We’ll spare you the corniness of the many speeches you’ve undoubtedly heard these past few weeks. So here is it straight – welcome to a real world that sometimes sucks. You all have already proven yourselves capable of helping save it so remember Birthright Earth always has your back.

    See It, Save It

    - tim

    Birthright Earth nominated for Environmental Award (0)        5/17/10

    May 17, 2010 – The World Technology Network (WTN), a global business and science think tank that honors and supports outstanding innovation, has nominated Birthright Earth for its 2010 World Technology Award for Environment -­‐ part of the World Technology Awards initiative held in association with TIME magazine, Science magazine/AAAS, among others.

    Birthright Earth is nominated as it is recognized as doing “innovative work of great likely long-­‐term significance.” The awards will be judged by elected WTN Fellows (winners and finalists in previous Awards cycles, such as Youtube, the Office of the Mayor of Seoul, Korea, the Mayo Clinic, and Rocky Mountain Institute). Winners will be announced from the stage at the Time & Life Building on the second night of the World Technology Summit & Awards being held June 24th and 25th 2010.

    About The World Technology Network Awards

    The World Technology Awards have been presented annually since 2000 to outstanding individuals and
    organizations recognized as doing innovative work of the greatest likely long-­‐term significance. The awards reward innovation in 20 sectors, including education, energy, and the environment. Awards are announced each year in a gala ceremony at the close of the annual World Technology Summit. The World Technology Summit is a global gathering of the WTN membership as well as other delegates.

    About The World Technology Network

    The WTN brings key players together -­‐ from the world’s leading corporations to the world’s newest start-­‐ups – helping to make things happen sooner and better than they otherwise might have. Drawing membership from over 60 countries, the WTN is a global virtual think-­‐tank, comprised of approximately 1000 members in a variety of fields including journalism, academia, and finance. Members are mostly short-­‐listed Nominees and/or Winners from previous years.

    About Birthright Earth

    Birthright Earth, the New York based, youth run non-­‐profit, believes it the birthright of every individual or generation to be able to enjoy, experience, and take care of the beauties of nature in their time. The organization has grown around the conviction that a generation that destroys such beauties erodes the birthright not only of itself, but also of future generations.

    Birthright Earth’s innovative response is to teach youth about the environment through firsthand experience. Birthright Earth selects applicants for 10-­‐day, fully funded trips through the Amazon Rainforest that include hiking, canoeing, field research and lectures by resident biologists. Our aim is to lead in the development of an active movement of young adults, passionate and dedicated to the conservation of crucial ecosystems, and actively working in support of steps to mitigate global warming and other man-­‐induced environmental hazards. In collaboration with WTN, we can better see it, understand it, love it, and save it.

    Editor’s note:

    Birthright Earth invites all interested parties to visit our website www.birthrightearth.com, or
    email Kenton Atta-­‐Krah, Director of Marketing and Communications at kenton@birthrightearth.com for more information. For more on WTN, visit http://www.wtn.net/summit2010/index.html

    WTN press release

    Why Go To The Amazon? BE Destination Explained (0)        5/04/10

    Since Eli and I founded BE almost two years ago, we’ve often been asked ‘why send people to the Amazon’? At first, it was pretty tempting to shoot back why not? I mean, it is the Amazon rainforest, one of the most beautiful ecosystems in the entire world. However, there is a lot more to it than the beauty and why not is not a sufficient answer.

    Most often, these questions were accompanied by one of two reasons for asking.

    1). Isn’t there enough environmental need in the United States? Why should our young generations go to the Amazon when coal mining is destroying Appalachian mountain tops and damming in the Tennessee River Basin is changing the south eastern U.S. ecosystems to the detriment of the area’s flora and fauna?

    It is certainly true that there are jarring environmental concerns in the domestic United States — our cities spew pollutants into the atmosphere and derelict urban areas become cesspools for environmental degradation; our own beautiful ecosystems are under constant threat of overcrowding and over-development. What’s important to remember from BE is that we don’t try to downplay the need for environmental concern at home. On the contrary, we stress it in collaboration with our partner organizations such as 1Sky, which lobbies for the creation of green jobs in the U.S. among other domestic green initiatives. Further, BE mounted its own push for grassroots support for the climate bill to pass in congress and set cap and trade limits on U.S. carbon emissions.

    We go to the Amazon because its not Appalachia or the Rockies. Many of these areas are places that our participants are from or could visit. Areas they are aware of and less motivated by. The amazon projects a sense of awe even when simply mentioned in passing. A visit there? It floors you and, we believe, will motivate you to take on environmental challenges wherever you choose, domestically or abroad.

    2). Doesn’t it run contrary to the battle against climate change to send large numbers of kids on flights to South America, creating significant carbon emission?

    Another understandable concern that we’ve often heard from individuals new to Birthright Earth and the general concept of our trips. It is true that, in order to get kids to such an exotic location, we have to employ major airlines for our trips. Fortunately, we’ve had great conversations with the airlines, including American and Delta, that fly to South America. All of our flights are carbon-credited in accordance with airline policy and the number of BE participants on each flight.

    In a more thematic, macro-sense, the Power of Place makes flights to the Amazon a necessary step for Birthright Earth. There is no other way for us to get young people to the rainforest. Thus, we are considering the long-term future of our planet by investing in the mindsets and machinations of our nation’s youth as opposed to not sending them in consideration of short-term carbon emissions. At Birthright Earth, we believe that if we don’t send these young people, it won’t matter if we emit carbon over the next few years, because our young generations won’t care enough to save our planet.

    So there’s a few reasons why the Amazon and not somewhere else. We believe its the motivational touchstone that will create watershed action against environmental issues for decades to come.

    Still not sold? I hope these giant river otters are more convincing than me…

    Amazonian Giant River Otters

    See It, Save It

    - tim

    Birthright Earth names Ramanan Sivalingam to Board of Advisors (0)        5/04/10

    May 04, 2010 – Birthright Earth has named Ramanan (Ram) Sivalingam to its Board of Advisors. Ramanan is a graduating member of the 2010 class at Wesleyan University, where he attained dual degrees in Economics and East Asian Studies.

    Your browser may not support display of this image.

    Ram’s course of study at Wesleyan led him to pursue a wide array of coursework including quantitative methods in economics, entrepreneurship and economic development, money banking and financial markets, Chinese, and East Asian Art History. He plans to begin working at Deutsche Bank AG in New York as a full-time analyst upon graduating from Wesleyan University this year. At Wesleyan, he managed and arranged budgets for film productions and rose to be the chairman of a successful student-run investment group. He continues to serve as a mentor to younger group members.

    A talented athlete, Ram also found success on the field playing for the Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team, which he went on to captain in 2010. As a Wesleyan Cardinal, he played in two NCAA tournaments, including the Final Four in 2007. In 2009, he was instrumental in the team’s victorious NECSAC Championship run.

    Ram is a graduate of the Lawrenceville and Hotchkiss schools, and it was at Hotchkiss that he became interested in environmental stewardship. He carries that same interest to Birthright Earth, which will be crucial to his advisory role.

    Ram joins us to help us better see it, understand it, love it, and save it.

    Ramanan Sivalingam Press Release

April 2010

    BE President Tim Devane made the cut for Lemondrop.com’s ’10 Cute Men Busy Saving The World (0)        4/22/10

    Earth Day … it’s one of those holidays that you don’t know quite how to celebrate. Use fewer Post-Its? Definitely choose paper (over plastic). And maybe worry existentially about the size of your carbon footprint.

    Or, ogle cute men whose passion in life is saving the planet! That’s right, when the 40th anniversary of this green holiday rolled around, we decided it was time to honor 10 guys who are easy on the eyes but have far more going on in their souls. Also known as: Do Gooders We’d Do…

    Read the full article:

    BE President Tim Devane made the cut for Lemondrop.com’s ’10 Cute Men Busy Saving The World’

    James Cameron Sees It and Now Wants To Save It (0)        4/21/10

    AvatarIf you ever check out the Birthright Earth facebook fanpage, you might have seen a post around the holidays that said something like this:

    #Avatar is a metaphor for Amazonian deforestation….should #BirthrightEarth provide trips to Pandora next summer? James Cameron might be interested. We’ll, leave it to James Cameron to make good on an interest we made up. On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story by Alexei Barrionuevo titled: From ‘Avatar’ to Amazon – James Cameron’s Crusade’. So is Birthright Earth a prophetical organization? No, definitely not. But the article highlights Cameron’s journey to the deep rainforest in Volta Grande Do Xingu, Brazil where he has been inspired to act. A longtime advocate of domestic environmental responsibility, Cameron credits his recent stay with the Brazilian Arara Tribe for transforming him into an emotionally-charged spokesperson for environmental conservation throughout the world.

    Addressing the tribe during his visit, Cameron explained, “The snake kills by squeezing very slowly. This is how the civilized world slowly, slowly pushes into the forest and takes away the world that used to be.” Of course, Cameron’s groundbreaking film Avatar, which netted close to $2.75 billion in ticket sales, portrays in 3-D, Sci Fi on the big screen what is actually happening in real-time 3-D in the Amazon and many other fragile ecosystems. They are slashed, burned, and depleted with little regard for what used to live and grow there. Cameron is well aware of this but, given the sincere impetus for action that he credits his trip for giving him, it sounds like even Hollywood’s finest needed to see it before he could save it. Hey that’s our slogan! Once again, He needed to See It before he could Save It.

    Mr. Cameron if you’re listening, we’re preaching the same message, the same goal, the same need for a comprehensive change. Birthright Earth wants you Mr. Cameron and Mr. Barrionuevo and anyone else willing to speak out for the cause we created our organization around.
    You have to see it before you can save it, James Cameron knows, now its your turn….

    - Tim

March 2010

    DoSomething.org & BE Press Release (0)        3/28/10

    Do Something.org & BE Press release

    March 28, 2010 – DoSomething.org, the national non-profit community service organization for teens selects Birthright Earth as its Project of the Day. On March 29, 2010, Birthright Earth will be featured on the homepage of this organization that is harnessing the power of young people across the nation who are taking giant strides for community action. Check out www.dosomething.org to learn more about DoSomething.org and to read its feature on Birthright Earth.

    About DoSomething.org

    Believing in the power of young people to improve their communities, DoSomething.org, the New York based non-profit takes steps to inspire, empower, and celebrate a generation of young doers who can and will make a difference. DoSomething.org provides resources and opportunities for teens, including weekly grants and access to communications technologies to enable teens to convert their ideas and energy into action – and Birthright Earth is an example of such action.

    About Birthright Earth

    Birthright Earth, the New York based, youth run non-profit, believes it the birthright of every individual or generation to be able to enjoy and experience the beauties of nature in their time. The organization has grown around the conviction that a generation that destroys such beauties erodes the birthright not only of itself, but also of future generations.

    Birthright Earth’s innovative response is to teach youth about the environment through firsthand experience. Birthright Earth selects applicants for 10-day, fully funded trips through the Amazon rainforest that include hiking, canoeing, field research and lectures by resident biologists. Our aim is to lead in the development of an active movement of young adults, passionate and dedicated to the conservation of crucial ecosystems, and actively working in support of steps to mitigate global warming and other man-induced environmental hazards.

    In collaboration with DoSomething.org, we can better see it, understand it, love it, and save it.

    Do Something.org & BE Press release

February 2010

    Help for Haiti (0)        2/04/10

    It seems inappropriate to post a blog about deforestation or climate change when as a global population we are faced with the utter catastrophe of the earthquake in Haiti. There aren’t really words that can adequately describe the death and destruction that has become the every day reality of an entire nation virtually overnight. Everyone has seen videos and pictures and heard devastating and horrific accounts of life lost and life attempting to be lived amid such chaos.

    These images and stories are in many ways the kind that you want to immediately tune out or turn away from. Akin to television advertisements for UNICEF or ASPCA, such horrors brought into living rooms and onto kitchen counters can often effect in an audience the opposite of their intended purpose – people turn away because of the disturbance, not because they don’t care, but because they are shaken or unsettled.

    Since the earthquake, however, we haven’t turned away. As a planet, as a people, we have gone into crisis management mode, doing anything and everything we can to offer support. Honestly, the number of TV promos, text message donations and everyday stories of individuals dropping everything to go and help is astounding. This has never happened before. That previous sentence applies to the quake itself, but if you look at it a different way it also applies to the coordinated and comprehensive help being given to Haiti in a time of ultimate need. The outpouring of support for Haiti is unlike any response I’ve seen to any other tragedy in my lifetime, including New Orleans, the Tsunami, and September 11th.

    Over the past month, I’ve seen Michelle Obama television ads, received and sent several donation texts, heard Conan O’Brien pleading for support and watched local bars run fundraising events to do whatever they are capable of to help the people of Haiti survive and rebuild. It’s sometimes tragic to think that it takes crisis to elicit this kind of response, but it is this we got you answer to a call for help that we are capable of when backs are against the wall. But it isn’t always tragedy, President Obama’s election campaign for example shown a glowing light on the power of organized and motivated human beings; the earthquake in Haiti has galvanized that power into a staying force determined to be there until things get better.

    As humans, we need to look at Haiti and realize how capable we really are when push comes to shove. Birthright Earth is founded on this innate human quality. We are able to change, we are able to help one another, we are able to maintain a serious focus on serious issues until they are resolved. It doesn’t require tragedy or historic proportions on the outset, an issue like climate change is all around us everyday. When push comes to shove, which it has, there are two paths we can take – allow climate change to become historically tragic or act as we know we can and achieve a historic victory over the issue of our generation.

    See It, Save It

    - Tim

January 2010

December 2009

    Takeaways from Copenhagen (0)        12/20/09

    For anyone mildly interested in what was accomplished these past two weeks in Copenhagen, it is easy to be disappointed. Walking downstairs this morning, The Washington Post cover greeted me with one of many depressing headlines I’ve seen today: “Climate Deal Falls Short of Key Goals.” Skimming articles on the web, titles clearly exhibit anger and frustration at the perceived lack of progress at the UN Climate Change Conference.

    The obvious question is “What exactly is in that non-binding accord that the US, China, India, Brazil, and several others signed at the conference?” The Huffington Post has a clear and succinct summary of the press release that was given to the media here.

    First of all, various countries have made nonbinding commitments to reduce emissions by 2020. The US has pledged a 3-4% reduction from 1990 levels. The EU, on the other hand, has pledged a 30-40% cut and Japan a 25% cut. President Obama addressed this disparity in his press conference (I highly recommend reading the entire transcript here), stating:

    “I think that the one principle that I brought to this is that whatever commitments we make, I want to be able to be sure that they’re actually commitments that we can keep.  So we tried to be modest in what we thought we could accomplish.  I think there was interest on the part of some to, for example, increase our mitigation targets.  Although when you look out in the years 2025 or 2030, our goals are actually entirely comparable with Europe’s.  On the front end they appear to be less, because frankly, they’ve had a head start over the last several years in doing things like energy efficiency that we care about.”

    Secondly, there was significant pressure put on increasing transparency amongst nations. This is a particular source of contention between the US and China, the two greatest emitters in the world. Without a clear verification system, countries fear that others will cheat and get a significant economic advantage above the others as a result. Hilary Clinton spoke frankly about her inability to move forward without progress on this front, telling the press:

    “There has to be a willingness to move toward transparency in whatever forum we finally determine is appropriate. So if there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency that is kind of a dealbreak for us.”

    The third, and largest development at the conference was the commitment by world leaders to spend $30 billion over the next three years and $100 billion by 2020 to help poor nations grapple with the effects of climate change and help them convert to a cleaner economy without impeding economic growth. The US is willing to contribute to this fund as long as all major nations, China and India in particular, are willing to submit their reductions to transparent verification.

    As expected, rainforests received a substantial amount of attention and discussion at the conference. Six countries – Australia, Britain, France, Japan, Norway, and the US – have all agreed to spend $3.5 billion to help fight deforestation. This program will run from 2010-2012. Though there was a lot of hope that negotiators would finally develop a legal and undisputed framework for reducing deforestation, known as REDD, leaders could not come to agreement and there were concerns about rich nations being willing to finance the program. This is not to say that the REDD program has not made progress as some of the money from the $100 billion fund could go towards helping prevent deforestation.

    While these developments are certainly a disappointment compared to the optimistic predictions that circulated prior to the conference, the lack of progress in Copenhagen highlights for the general public how truly difficult the task at hand is. For the first time, the world is facing a common crisis whose solution will have severe economic and political implications. Obama recognized the difficulty of negotiating an international agreement given these circumstances, stating at his press conference, “Climate change threatens us all; therefore, we must bridge old divides and build new partnerships to meet this great challenge of our time. That’s what we’ve begun to do here today.” David Fahrenthold, in a Washington Post article, also recognized that we underestimated the difficulty of the political task at hand:

    “Just because climate change doesn’t respect borders doesn’t mean borders don’t matter. In past months, the Senate climate debate has shown that, despite exhortations that the problem threatens every American, many senators have focused on their states’ interests first. In past weeks, a similar dynamic has played out among nations. Altering the dynamic of future conferences will require finding a way to make them feel their short-term national interests are served.”

    As we look into the future, especially here in the US, it is important that we fight to get climate change legislation passed in the house. Currently, senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are working to draft a bill. With the Copenhagen conference reaching a close, the focus will switch to ensuring that next year at the UN Conference in Mexico City we overcome some of the obstacles that we encountered at Copenhagen and make progress where we failed.

    Check out some great pictures from the conference here!

    See it, Save it

    - daphne

    2009 Guatemala Trip Recap (0)        12/06/09

    Tim Muse and I returned late last night from Guatemala City after a five day Familiarization trip sponsored by the Rainforest Alliance. The trip took us, along with local tourism operators and journalists, to several lodges that have been certified by the Guatemalan Green Deal program, which is overseen by the Rainforest Alliance standards for sustainable tourism.

    The Green Deal program and the Rainforest Alliance have been working together to legitimize sustainable tourism at many lodges in the country and hosted the 2009 FAM trip in order to show tourism companies and media outlets how effective their efforts have been.

    Tim and I were accompanied by representatives from tourism companies including ReContur S.A., Condor Tours & Travel, Holbrook Travel, a German journalist and media representatives from Costa Rican based Destinos TV and finally communications employees from the Rainforest Alliance. Eager and dedicated from day 1, everyone on the trip had unique perspectives and insights into sustainability in Latin America.

    Our trip began with a walking tour of colonial Antigua, one of the most visited towns in the world in 2008 and a stunning area full of religious and cultural history. We visited a local Cloisters as well as the Church of San Francisco, where Hermano Pedro, the only canonized saint of Guatemala, is buried. After eating dinner at wonderful Casa Santo Domingo, the whole group spent the night in the Hotel Villa Colonial. The next morning we visited the Mayan ruins of Iximche, an impressive plateaued ruins outside of Antigua. After the ruins, we took a bus ride to Lake Atitlan, one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, nestled between three volcanos, Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango.

    A 45 minute boat ride brought us to Hotel Uxlabil, a sustainable lodge built into the lakeside and adjacent to the artisan co-op village of San Juan La Laguna. This tiny village is home to textile, painting, and coffee co-ops that work together to sell goods and educate their youth. The following morning, we took a bus to the archeological site of Tak’alik Ab’aj, which is home to both Mayan and Olmeca civilization ruins. That night the group checked into the Takalik Mayan Lodge, which is operated by 22 local community families and recently earned the Green Deal tourism certification from Rainforest Alliance.

    Perhaps the highlight of our trip came on the second to last day, when the group took a bus, van, and two-hour kayak trip through mangrove wetlands to the isolated community of Playa de Chico. This area is home to 200 families that live in grass huts, sell sesame seeds, and live primarily of fish caught from the river. There are no combustion engines within earshot except for the occasional boat bringing mainland supplies to the families. Unloading from the kayaks, we were utterly floored to see beach on the far side of the village, with the vast Pacific Ocean in the distance. Perfect sets of rolling waves, lukewarm water, and pristine, empty beach made for an unforgettable afternoon that none of us will soon forget. That afternoon we made our way back to Gautemala City for our departing flights the following morning.

    For Birthright Earth this trip gave us the chance to meet several Latin American tour operators as we consider future expansion for BE trips outside of the Amazon. Furthermore, we were able to connect with local media outlets and Rainforest Alliance employees who are eager to help our organization grow and achieve its goals.

    A wonderful and successful trip! Please stay tuned for photos albums from the trip!

    See It, Save It

    - tim

November 2009

October 2009