Amazon Conservation Team to participate in Art For The Animals' Creative Giving Program
Carmel, CA April, 2007 -- Art For The Animals is pleased to announce the addition of Amazon Conservation Team as a participant in its 2007 Gifts of Giving program.
“The history of the international conservation movement has focused largely on protecting land from people,” notes Lori Stewart, President of AFTA, “but in the vast tropical Amazon rainforest, indigenous groups present an extraordinary conservation opportunity. Much of the best-protected rainforest in South America, home to the endangered poison blue frog, is on Indian lands. Indigenous people living a relatively traditional lifestyle often maintain both a physical and a spiritual tie to the land. They rely on the forest for daily necessities, including food from agriculture, hunting and fishing, as well as medicines and drinking water; all of which requires careful stewardship of local resources.”
Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) works in the Amazon rainforest to protect biological diversity by strengthening local culture and building local conservation capacity. One of ACT's cultural preservation projects is in Suriname, which lies on the northeast coast of South America. Fully 80% of the country is wilderness area; inhabited for centuries by the Trio and Wayana Indians and the Maroons, who descended from runaway slaves of African origin. Here, ACT has partnered with the Trio and Wayana tribes Foundation
NANA for Trio Women in Kwamalasamutu to develop economic opportunities using mostly natural materials to create cultural objects—tools, instruments, utensils and ornaments. The resulting income enables artists to purchase household goods, hygiene products, clothing, books and supplies required for their children to attend the local public school. The project fosters the sustainable use of biodiversity and the preservation of ancient artistic traditions.
Conservancy organizations currently participating in the Art For The Animals program include:
African Wildlife Foundation
Amazon Conservation Team
Conservation Through Poverty Alleviation International
Smithsonian Conservation and Research / Friends of the National Zoo
International Gorilla Conservation Programme
International Snow Leopard Trust
Lemur Conservation Foundation
Michoacan Reforestation Fund
Project Seahorse
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Wild Camel Protection Foundation
Wildlife Conservation Network
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To view the Art For The Animals donation packages, visit www.artfortheanimals.org .
Art For The Animals is a program of AFTA Associates, Incorporated ( www.aftaassociates.org ) AFTA is a 501c3 non profit organization that works in collaboration with existing wildlife and nature conservancy organizations to preserve wildlife and nature through programs that make the business of saving wildlife, a business from which local people can make a living. |
