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Island forest in Peru. (Photo by R. Butler)
International Conservation Organizations
Today international conservation organizations serve as environmental consultants for governments and large corporations interested
in reducing pollution, setting aside protected areas, and conserving biodiversity. Organizations like the International
Conservation Union (IUCN), Conservation International (CI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) act as mediators between various development interests,
policy makers, local peoples, scientists, and activist groups in promoting conservation. These organizations initiate
and support a broad range of conservation-related activities, from arranging international conferences to establishing
community-based conservation projects to maintaining parks and reserves. Keeping attuned to economic realities,
they work to integrate the latest scientific findings into preservation efforts.
Activist Groups
Activist groups, like the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Rainforest Alliance, Amazon Watch, Friends of the
Earth (FOE), and the Sierra Club are publicists and sponsors of rainforest preservation. These organizations support
and initiate community-based conservation projects that involve locals in conservation. They are watchdogs of development
projects that impact the rainforest, and they spread the the word to other organizations, peoples, and governments. They
initiate campaigns against large corporations and governments responsible for deforestation and encourage consumers
to boycott their products. Pressure against these companies from environmental organizations, coupled with boycotts,
will often sway the firm to adopt more ecologically sound methods or abandon plans to clear forest lands for production.
While critics argue that successful boycotts in the North only lead to trade diversion to markets that remain open,
their campaigns draw public attention to deforestation and increase industry's sensitivity to rainforest issues.
The Rainforest Action Network is one of the world's largest organizations completely committed to saving the world's
rainforest. It is based in San Francisco and has countless affiliates throughout the world. The organization
has led numerous campaigns, several of
which have been successful. RAN uses boycotts as a means to pressure companies responsible for rainforest destruction.
RAN, along with other organizations, has been responsible for pressuring companies into less ecologically damaging
practices. The table reflects some of their successes. The first major successful boycott, led by RAN, was a boycott
of Burger King and caused the fast-food giant to cancel $35 million in beef contracts with Central American countries.
Since then, the demand for cattle products has diminished, and these nations have slowed the clearing of rainforest
for pasture land. Recently FOE's "Mahogany is Murder" campaign reduced UK mahogany imports from 31,300
cubic meters in 1992 to 18,900 cubic meters in 1996.
Today RAN and other groups are encouraging boycotts of Chevron-Texaco, Burmese teak ("Teak is Torture" campaign),
mahogany ("mahogany is murder" campaign), and Shell Oil. In the past couple of years several
city governments have refused to purchase goods or services from firms that participate in forest destruction.
In 1995, the city government of Berkeley, California, prohibited firms that operate in Burma—which has witnessed
widespread deforestation and human-rights violations by commercial activities—from selling goods to the city
government. The companies affected by the blockade include Pepsico, Texaco, and Unocal. In 1996, in response to
the hanging of environmentalist leaders in Nigeria, the Toronto metro council rejected Shell Oil's proposal to
fuel city vehicles. In 1997, Berkeley moved to ban companies operating in Nigeria from city government contracts.
According to EDF, municipalities that have banned the use of unsustainably produced tropical timber include Baltimore,
Bellingham, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, Ottowa, San Francisco, Santa Clarita, and Santa Monica.
Private Funding Organizations
In addition to conservation organizations, private corporations have been responsible for funding projects to help the environment.
Recently Motorola allied with the World Wildlife Foundation's conservation effort, by enhancing the organization's
communication capabilities when in remote areas. Now WWF has first-class tracking devices and excellent means of
communication for their fieldwork.
World's first video of the elusive and endangered bay cat
(11/05/2009) Rare, elusive, and endangered by habitat loss, the bay cat is one of the world's least studied wild cats. Several specimens of the cat were collected in the 19th and 20th Century, but a living cat wasn't even photographed until 1998. Now, researchers in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, have managed to capture the first film of the bay cat (Catopuma badia). Lasting seven seconds, the video shows the distinctly reddish-brown cat in its habitat.
Photos: Palm oil threatens Borneo's rarest cats
(11/04/2009) Oil palm expansion is threatening Borneo's rarest wild cats, reports a new study based on three years of fieldwork and more than 17,000 camera trap nights. Studying cats in five locations—each with different environments—in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, researchers found that four of five cat species are threatened by habitat loss due to palm oil plantations. "No other place has a higher percentage of threatened wild cats!" Jim Sanderson, an expert on the world's small cats, told Mongabay.com. Pointing out that 80 percent of Borneo's cats face extinction, Sanderson said that "not one of these wild cats poses a direct threat to humans."
Gucci drops APP in pledge to save rainforests
(11/03/2009) One of the world's largest and most prestigious fashion brands has stated it will stop sourcing paper from Indonesian forests and will drop Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) as a supplier, which has become notorious for tropical deforestation. The move comes after pressure from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on the fashion industry to stop sourcing paper from threatened rainforests for their shopping bags.
Illegal logging trade from Myanmar to China slows, but doesn't stop
(10/28/2009) The illegal wood trade from Myanmar to China has slowed, but it still threatens Myanmar's tropical forests and species, according to a new report by Global Witness. From 2005 and 2008 improved border controls into China led to a drop in imports of logs and sawn wood by 70 percent.
Crisis averted for now, Peruvian natives will meet with Hunt Oil
(10/28/2009) Indigenous groups in a dispute with Hunt Oil, over the company performing seismic tests their land, have scheduled a meeting with the Texas based oil corporation, according to Reuters.
