September 2009
Birthright Earth Earns National Nonprofit Award (0) 9/30/09
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Birthright Earth chosen as Member of the Month by Grassroots.org.
Video: Barack Obama Speaks on Climate Change at UN (0) 9/25/09
President Obama waxes poetic about the entire environmental crisis and sums it all up very nicely. To hear it at the United Nations this week was wonderful and hopefully it builds towards some concrete policies when the Copenhagen Conference comes in two months.
See It, Save It
- tim
Direct Exposure: Amazon Video Clips from Tropical Nature Volunteer (0) 9/23/09
Watch these two videos and imagine being there, drifting by large caimen in a dugout boat or trekking through the rain forest with the pulse of the jungle and exotic noises surrounding you.
Guido Hakkenberg volunteered at the Pantanal Wildlife Center and Jaguar Research Center this summer, two of Tropical Nature’s most popular eco-lodge destinations. Check out a photo album from his entire trip on the Birthright Earth facebook fan page.
Caimen on the Pantanal:
Jungle Hike in Ilhabela:
Guido’s volunteer experience is available for all Birthright Earth participants to pursue during summer breaks or for full-year periods!
Thanks for the video Guido.
See It, Save It
– tim
Trevor Adams on The Bio-trip from Cuzco to Manu (0) 9/13/09
Hello,
This is Trevor Adams writing again from the Manu Wildlife Center. I thought that in this blog I would share the trip that took Jeff and I from the city of Cuzco, Peru to the jungle of Manu, Peru.
Jeff and I had to be up early in the morning to get onto a bus, that would be taking us along with a group of tourists on a three days, two nights overland trip to the MWC. The people that the two of us were joining on this trip were a family from Southern California with one teenage son and a family from Zurich, Switzerland with a young son and daughter. There were also two bus drivers, which is required by Peruvian law, the guide, Jose Antonio, and a man who worked at the MWC.
As we were leaving Cuzco, Jose Antonio began explaining the culture and history of the city, as well as what our itinerary would consist of. Soon after leaving Cuzco city proper, we stopped at a small town where Jose Antonio bought a few loaves of a special bread of that area called Panchuta. It was a round loaf of bread that was very sweet but not completely soft like a sweet roll usually is. Jose Antonio then explained that during a certain festival there is a competition among the many bakers of Panchuta in this small town to see who can make the most elaborate design in the middle of the bread, such as animal designs. The prize that was won from this competition was solely pride in being the best baker of Panchuta that year.
Soon after this small town we made our first real stop of the trip at a large lake about forty-five minutes outside of Cuzco. The lake was very marshy in some places and was a location that was often frequented by certain birds of that area. We saw a few different species of birds here, including certain types of ducks.
We then continued on our trip, which would take us from the valleys around Cuzco up to the heights of the Andes. We traveled through small cities that dotted the mountainside along the long and winding road. The bus ride was one of the most beautiful rides that I believe I will ever take in my life. While we were climbing the Andes mountains we not only saw wildlife along the way, but we were also able to see great views from the road of the different mountains, valleys, and even of terraces that had been built by the Incans. For lunch, our group stopped on the side of the road where we were able to find a flat space literally on the edge of a cliff, right outside of a region of Peru called the Cloud Forest. It was both a beautiful scene as well as a delicious lunch. During lunch, we learned that the Cloud Forest derived its name from its high altitude, which allows for dense clouds to creep down the mountainside enveloping all that is in its path. It is in this region of the Peruvian rainforest that certain animals and plants can only be found, including the Wooly Monkey.
The first night we were staying at the Cock of the Rock Lodge, which was located along this road. The trip from Cuzco to the lodge took us about twelve hours, which Jose Antonio explained was slightly longer than usual since we made so many stops for wildlife and problems in the road. The Cock of the Rock Lodge is named for the national bird of Peru, Cock of the Rock, which we would be seeing the next day from a blind located five to ten minutes walking time from the lodge. It was dark when we arrived at the lodge, but it consisted of a pathway that stretched from the road through the bungalows to the lodge at the other end. There was no electricity and only candlelight and there was a propane-gas system for hot water in the showers. We all had a great meal, after which Jeff and I slept our first night in the jungle.
The next morning we woke up early so that we could arrive at the blind before the Cock of the Rock would. The blind was located in a section of the forest off of the road where the Cock of the Rock has a sizeable lek. It is actually quite amazing that the birds are not in anyway bothered by the noise of passing cars on the road no more than twenty feet away. The sight we were treated to when the cock of the rock arrived was really tremendous. The Cock of the Rock is a bright red bird with a blackish body that pushes its feathers forward on its head to create a crest. We witnessed about six males performing their mating ritual, while two or three females watched the displays.
After about an hour at the lek, our group returned back to the lodge where right outside the back of the dinning room in the garden we saw a family of Brown Capuchin Monkeys climbing in the trees. The Capuchins were the first monkeys that we saw on our trip and they were very close to the lodge so it created an amazing scene. In the garden, we also saw an Agouti, a variety of hummingbirds, and a Bolivian squirrel.
We then returned to the bus after breakfast for a six hour drive to a town on the Upper Madre De Deos River called Atalaya. From here we would be taking a fifteen-minute boat ride to the Amazonia Lodge. The lodge was a converted ranch, which meant much of the forest in the immediate area was secondary. Amazonia Lodge is very beautifully made and even has the convenience of electricity. There was a waterfall nearby, which the lodge used to power the lights and water in the lodge. It is a very good location for viewing a variety of birds.
In the morning we left Amazonia for a seven-hour boat ride to our final destination the Manu Wildlife Center. Unfortunately, we left during a cold front, which made the boat ride very cold and mostly devoid of wildlife. However, ever since arriving here at MWC our experience and wildlife viewing has only gotten better. Thank you for reading.
See it, Save it
Trevor
China: Economically OK, Environmentally NOT (0) 9/11/09
“Over the past year, the world economy has experienced the most severe challenge since the Great Depression,” said Wen Jiabao at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions. China has bounced back however, and rather quickly. The financial hierarchy has regulated its banks well over the years, kept the currency steady, and allocated the stimulus money well. Companies are reporting earnings again and stocks are up by more than 70 percent this year. The real issue at hand is not the economy, but the environment.
One of the largest complaints voiced by the Chinese people, is the contamination of fresh water sources from industrial pollution, as well as lousy treatment of sewage systems throughout the country. There is much pollution in China’s lakes, and algae outbreaks, causing an environmental alarm, are happening more often than not. This can be caused by nearby agriculture materials leaking into the various bodies of water; hundreds of millions of dollars have been dedicated to cleaning China’s lakes. Lakes, and water in general possessing these levels of toxins can kill much of the surrounding wildlife, and can be accidentally served as deadly drinking water to the local population.
The violent riots: Polluted air and dirty water lead to severe health hazards, and when your fellow comrades are dying due to the overwhelming pollution in the area, chances are you will speak up, roaringly. The latest riots, in a series across the country, resulted in hostages and a couple thousand riot police officers. A chemical plant and a tannery were at the epicenter of the rumble. The cancer rate is the highest its been in the surrounding area and the smell from the industrial production is appalling. Economic development, in a sense has “lapped” environmental regulations in China, and they need to get back on pace with each other.
(water samples collected from various rivers and lakes around China)
The fresh water problem is (a huge) part of a larger environmental issue, no doubt. However, it is important to understand all facets of our environmental crisis whether it be in the Amazon, Oklahoma, Antarctica, or China, because no matter where we may be in the world, we are heavily affected by these environmental complications.
See It, Save It
-Eli
The Rainforest Alliance with Birthright Earth (0) 9/10/09
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Birthright Earth announces its alliance with the Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit organization with over 20 years experience working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods.
Birthright Earth names Barton Seaver to Board of Advisors (0) 9/10/09
PR_Barton_Seaver_September_11_2009
Widely acclaimed for his culinary talents, Seaver’s passions extend far beyond the dinner table and delighting the palette with inspiring seafood cuisine, to include socio-economic and cultural issues.
Going Green like the Incredible Hulk, Hilarious Video from Current TV (0) 9/05/09
Current TV’s animated sketch comedy show ‘Supernews’ excerpt about a guy that takes going green quite literally, environment be damned. Enjoy!
BE's Jeff Strittmatter on working with the Machiguenga Tribe (0) 9/02/09
Thanks to Birthright Earth and its affiliates, Trevor Adams and myself, Jeff Strittmatter, were given the opportunity to volunteer at the Manu Wildlife Center, an eco-tourist lodge in the Peruvian Amazon.
Our first of three months has already passed and we have thoroughly enjoyed each and every minute of our stay here. Our daily routine allows us to gain phenomenal insight into the people, animals and lowland jungle of Peru.
Trevor and I spend the majority of the day with our coworker, Santos. Santos comes from a local indigenous tribe, the Machiguengas. He is one of the 20 or so workers who live across the river on an island (their request for reasons of privacy) whose jobs are to navigate the riverboats for tourists and maintain the trails in the surrounding area. Approximately 90 percent of these workers have roots in the Machiguenga tribe. Hiring the members of this local tribe is important for several reasons. It prevents them from pursuing jobs that are harmful to the environment, such as poaching and logging. The exportation and sale of exotic birds is now illegal in Peru. Poaching of this type in the past has had long lasting diminishing effects on the population of these animals (due a high demand in the US for these birds at pets) and will continue to effect their populations if alternative forms of employment are not available. By providing these families with sufficient income to feed and educate their children properly, it deters them from resorting to these other types of employment that are harmful to the environment and the surrounding ecosystem.
Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to get to know these people very well. They are all great workers and extremely friendly. They are even gracious enough to allow me to participate in their weekly Sunday afternoon soccer game. Every morning when I arrive to their island I’m sure to be met with a gigantic smile and a firm handshake from any of the workers I encounter. In the future I’d like to continue seeing smiles on their faces while at the same time keeping them out of the jungle hunting or logging.
See it, Save it
- Jeff
August 2009
- Follow us on Twitter and tweet your new name ideas for Tropical Nature Travel to twitter.com/birthrightearth
- Every tweeted submission will be considered by Tropical Nature Travel and Birthright Earth to be the new name for the largest Eco-Tourism company in South America. How Cool!
- The winning name will be announced at Katra Lounge on August 15th at 10:00 pm, the person who submitted will need to be there to collect their winnings.
From Manu Peru (0) 8/29/09
Hello folks,
My name is Trevor Adams. I am currently working as a volunteer at the Manu Wildlife Center in the Peruvian rainforest with my friend Jeff Strittmatter. Jeff and I graduated from Wesleyan University in 2009 with Tim Devane. We are good friends with Tim as well as other members of the Birthright Earth team, which we are also a part of. Thanks to the incredibly helpful affiliate companies of Birthright Earth, especially Tropical Nature and InkaNatura, Jeff and I were able to pursue our current course of work in the jungle of Manu, Peru. In order to attempt to return the favor to Birthright Earth and the affiliate companies, Jeff and I have happily agreed to post a blog about our work and experiences at the Manu Wildlife Center (MWC).
First, I think it is important to explain exactly what volunteering at the MWC entails. Our primary job is to teach the manager of the lodge, Claudia, English. It is important for Claudia to be able to speak English because whenever a new group of tourists arrives at the lodge, she gives a briefing that describes the rules and services of the lodge. At the moment, Claudia gives the briefing in Spanish and has a guide translate to the tourists. It would be more expedient for Claudia to give the briefing in English, as well as be able to directly answer any questions that the tourists may have. Also, it is important for her to learn English to enable her to be able to understand and respond to problems that the tourists may have during their stay at the lodge, especially for emergencies. Our other main job is to run a shop at the MWC, which contains t-shirts and various Peruvian souvenirs, including hand-stitched items made by a native woman. The proceeds of the shop all go towards the non-profit organization NatureCrafts, which then uses the money to fund various conservation projects.
In future posts Jeff and I will be describing the interesting animals, people, and events that we have seen so far and will see in the future. I hope you all enjoy the blog and that we can help you share in our great Peruvian experience.
See it, Save it
Trevor
Rosenthal Explores Payment for Rainforest Preservation (0) 8/23/09
Yesterday, Elisabeth Rosenthal’s second major article on deforestation and climate change ran on the front page of the New York Times. The piece was the sixth in a series about ‘stopgap measures that could limit climate change’ according to the Times.
The article outlines a program gaining support from South American governments and foreign political leaders alike: paying local farmers a fee per acre to conserve and monitor the rainforest land they own. Ideally, this program would change local cattle ranchers and soy bean farmers into Brazilian conservationists – a term that has historically been a laughable oxymoron in the country.
Rosenthal notes the simplicity of the program, which may be its most serviceable aspect. The farmers do much less work to preserve the rainforest than they do farming it. Yet, it is what they don’t do that helps limit CO2 emissions on three distinct fronts: First, by not cutting down trees, they negate the emission from actual deforestation. Second, they don’t destroy the natural carbon sinks that are the Earth’s CO2 regulators. Third, there is no emission from raising and processing cattle and soy beans.
Simple is an attractive and yet misleading word in conservation. Simplicity is a necessity to motivate generations of Brazilians who’ve been encouraged by their government to develop the rainforest. People resist change and are wholly unresponsive when it requires serious additional work. In this respect, the program is incredibly promising as it takes less work than the actual ranching does.
But simple can easily be manipulated. One of the central issues with the payment program is ensuring that land is actually preserved. A culture of self-interest combines with vast acreage to make it very easy for farmers to take payments and still develop the land. There needs to be a system of checks that provides transparency and enforcement.
This is where the Amazon Protection System – SIPAM would come in handy. A Brazilian governmental organization and a feature of certain Birthright Earth trips, SIPAM has been in operation since 1990 and monitors the health of the rainforest as well as illegal logging and poaching with infrared satellites. This is an ideal tool for ensuring that the deals made with farmers are adhered to. Before Brazil starts handing out money without any kind of check, the state should realize the advanced monitoring program they have at their disposal.
If it can be enforced and the money is enough to compensate the farmers’ normal incomes, this program could be incredibly successful. Without being able to turn all interested parties into environmentalists, money will be key in conserving the rainforest.
See it, Save it
- tim
Birthright Earth Event in NYC Tomorrow Night! (0) 8/14/09
Come celebrate the end to a great summer at Katra Lounge in the Lower East Side tomorrow night! We are hosting an event there from nine until closing and expect to see one of the biggest turnouts so far! There will be drink specials at the beginning of the night so we recommend coming early.
Also, a reminder about an easy way to win $100! Our sister organization, Tropical Nature Travel needs renaming and wants your suggestions. Tweet us (@BirthrightEarth) your ideas and the one we like best will win $100 at 1o PM at Katra tomorrow night.
For more event information, check out our Facebook invite here.
Your continued support means the world to us, everyone is very excited for Saturday night and we hope to see many of you there!
See It, Save It,
-Daphne
Twitter Name Competition – Win $100.00 (0) 8/07/09
So our sister organization is Tropical Nature Travel, the largest eco-tourism company in South America. Tropical Nature Travel has operated for more than 15 years and conserves over 10 million acres of Amazon rainforest. All the lodge descriptions on our site are TN’s wonderful lodges.
So What? Well, Tropical Nature Travel is looking to reinvigorate and sexify their operations and how better to do that than with a New Name? Are you down?
If so, here’s the deal. Birthright Earth is hosting a Naming Competition through our Twitter page starting this morning and running through next Saturday Aug.15, when we host an event at Katra Lounge in New York City.
Guidelines:
SO: Get your creative juices flowing, tweet us your ideas, show up at Katra for a great time, and maybe you win $100!
* Think about it, the dude who came up with the Nike Swoosh only got 50 bucks for his efforts *
Mother Nature Network reports on Birthright Earth (0) 8/01/09
July 2009
Prince's Rainforests Project Campaign (0) 7/30/09
Prince Charles’ Rainforest project is one of the most impressive organizations in the world today that is doing work to stop deforestation and preserve the Amazon. Birthright Earth hopes to work with this project in the near future to help save the environments, cultures, and biodiversity that is being destroyed in South America.
This promotional video says it all:
Birthright Earth @ Garrett's in D.C. Tomorrow! (0) 7/29/09
If you’re looking to do something tomorrow night, don’t want to spend a lot of money, and do want to support a good cause, come to Garrett’s at 3003 M street in Georgetown. We’re having our second event of the summer there tomorrow night with Happy Hour prices from 9-10 pm and $1 off all drinks from 10 pm to close. A Birthright Earth Representative will be at the front door of Garrett’s to collect a recommended $10.00 donation and talk about the program. We will be in the Club Room, which is upstairs to the left.
Here’s a link to the facebook invite.
Look out for a Birthright Earth Crew walking around Georgetown today posting fliers and another crew marching on M street and Wisconsin Ave tomorrow evening before the event with a 8 ft Birthright Earth banner encouraging people to come.
It’s gonna be a great night, so come show your support.
See It, Save It
- Tim
Global Warming = Destruction of Indigenous Tribes (0) 7/26/09
This morning, the New York Times ran a jarring and memorable investigative piece by Elisabeth Rosenthal about the deterioration of indigenous people in the Amazon region as a result of deforestation. The article focused on the Kamayurá tribe, a small collection of families in Xingu National Park in nothern central regoin of the Brazilian Amazon.
What happens to the native peoples who have lived for hundreds of years as a thriving part of the Amazon rainforest when the trees are cut down and the temperature rises?
The species they depend on for food become scarce and they starve.
The areas they depend on to provide them with a place to live becomes unlivable and they are forced to move.
The soil the depend on for agriculture becomes arid or suffers the ill effects of unpredictable weather due to climate change.
The culture, traditions, and heritage of often forgotten slice of human life that has endured for centuries become endangered and extinct.
Mrs. Rosenthal’s article is a necesary exposition of something no one every talks about when considering deforestation or global warming – the local communities and cultures. They always seem to be priority ‘last’ and that certainly must change. This article should serve as a shock to our googled, twittered, and blackberried sense of reality there are people, real people, human beings, who are forced to stand by while climate change and deforestation destroys them. These humans beings are living the environmental crisis, seeing it chew away at everything they are. Their seemingly magical existence amongst the tall Manioc trees and sleek jaguars turned into what Rosenthal calls a ‘kind of bad dream’.
So the next time you think about biodiversity loss or the effects of global warming, remember that that loss includes the species homosapien. To drive a species like the Amazon river dolphin into extinction is devasting, to drive ancient cultures of humans into extinction is self-destruction in its most blunt and obvious form.
See It, Save It
– Tim
Carbon Offsets – Beyond Cap and Trade (0) 7/19/09
For anyone whose been following the news recently, you’ll know that Obama’s climate change bill recently passed in the House and is now scheduled to go to vote in Senate. A large portion of this bill involves ‘Cap and Trade economy’. Caps are basically limits on carbon emissions set for domestic companies in order to bring down our aggregate % of carbon release. Companies that don’t reach their limit can sell their unused caps to other companies struggling to stay under the limit.
Sound confusing? It can be. But there are other ways that people can use carbon offsets in their every day lives as great short-term aids to reducing carbon emissions.
Check out companies like Carbon Fund or Terra Pass . These companies allow you to calculate your carbon emissions or ‘carbon footprint’. You can also enter you car’s make, model, and expected mileage for the coming year and buy carbon credits that offset your transportation emissions with investment in alternative energies like solar and wind.
Larger corporations are catching on. While Terra Pass will also create a carbon credit for any flight you take, take a look at American Airlines Offset Program. Almost every major airline now offers carbon offsets.
This is a fantastic way help bring down our carbon emissions. If you can’t afford a hybrid vehicle yet or simply love your old car, look into Terra Pass, its much more affordable. And the next time your flying, spend a little extra money to get a carbon credit that will go along way to promoting alternative energy solutions.
See It, Save It
- Tim
Calling All Birthright Earth Campus Reps! (0) 7/10/09
Next week, we will be getting together our lists of Birthright Earth Campus Representatives for the 2009-10 academic year. We want to create a Birthright Earth presence at as many Colleges and Universities as possible and we need YOUR HELP.
As a Birthright Earth Campus Rep, You will be the head of BE operations at your respective school. We will send you a Campus Rep Kit - complete with American Apparel Birthright Earth t-shirt, bumper sticker, event fliers, and guides for how you can make BE a social and educational mainstay on your campus.
Our guides are meant as a ‘How To’ framework, offering tips and suggestions for how to get in touch with relevant environmental and science professors as supporters or advisers to the program; how to throw a Birthright Earth party or fundraiser; how to spread the word to peers, administrators, and alumni; how to order bulk Birthright Earth t-shirts to sell on campus; how to sign student up for the program and get friends involved as campus volunteers.
If you are interested in representing Birthright Earth to your entire campus and your campus to the entire environmental community, then please send us an e-mail at info@birthrightearth.com with your name and the college or university you will rep for the coming academic year. If you’ve already done so, don’t worry, we already have you down and will be in touch very soon.
See It, Save It,
- Tim
US Energy Chief Steven Chu (0) 7/07/09
“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.”-William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in December of 1950.
This quote was delivered by Dr. Steven Chu, our 12th Secretary of Energy in the United States during a commencement speech at Harvard University as an inspiration to the youth. An interesting child, a 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics, and head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one can gain true insight into Chu’s genius by watching his lecture at the 2007 Nobel Conference. Also, to learn more about Steven Chu’s upbringing visit the Nobel Prize site for his fascinating autobiography.
Barack Obama selected him from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where at the time Mr. Chu was making serious advancements. Among his accomplishments while at Berkeley included a $500 million deal with BP regarding their Energy Biosciences Institute. Steven Chu also came up with the notion of a global “glucose economy” to ease, if not replace, the world’s dependence on oil. The idea is to have crops planted in the tropics converted to glucose, which would eventually be converted into biofuels and bioplastics. This is the grand scale Mr. Chu is thinking on in order to curb global warming.
Another example of his unconventional thought process is his idea to paint every roof on every building and house, as well as pavement on roads, white or a light color in order to reflect sunlight back into space. Many scientists have thought of this however Steven Chu is in a position to make it happen. How in the world will he do it? Money.
His department has been assigned a budget of $26 billion a year and he has also gotten a nice chunk of the stimulus package to do his work: $39 billion. Steven Chu a prominent scientist is in power; we like this a lot. He has shelled out some billions to large auto-makers such as Ford commanding them to make their petrol-powered cars more efficient. Also, like Shai Agassi (another hero of mine), he is very focused on making a “smart grid,” however his will be geared towards solar and wind power.
As much power as Mr. Chu may appear to have, he has almost no say in the most important decision that will effect the most important aspect of energy policy and that is the law on climate change that is moseying through Congress. For now, the Department of Energy shall focus on the difficult task of allocating the money they were given to various low-carbon projects.
Steven Chu more than anything wants to get a message across to the whole world. In the same speech at Harvard he stated, “In the last several decades, our climate has been changing. Climate change is not new: the Earth went through six ice ages in the past 600,000 years. However, recent measurements show that the climate has begun to change rapidly. The size of the North Polar Ice Cap in the month of September is only half the size it was a mere 50 years ago. The sea level which been rising since direct measurements began in 1870 at a rate that is now five times faster than it was at the beginning of recorded measurements. Here’s the remarkable scientific discovery. For the first time in human history, science is now making predictions of how our actions will affect the world 50 and 100 years from now. These changes are due to an increase in carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The Earth has warmed up by roughly 0.8 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Revolution. There is already approximately a 1 degree rise built into the system, even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today. Why? It will take decades to warm up the deep oceans before the temperature reaches a new equilibrium.”
Steven Chu will have a monumental role in preventing further global warming and it is extremely important that this man is not only acknowledged for his work and ideas, but praised.
See It, Save It
-Eli
