Art For The Animals' 2007 Gift Additions Previewed at First Holiday Gift Guide Show. Creative Program Turns Holiday Gift Giving into Wildlife Conservation
Carmel, CA June 13, 2007 -- Gift guide media looking for alternatives to traditional gift ideas to feature in their Holiday Gift Guides this season will find just the thing at Art For The Animal's exhibit at the Holiday Gift Guide Show. Art For The Animals is a creative giving program that supports wildlife and nature conservancy through donation gift packages and donor thank you gifts of folk art and crafts made by artisan groups closely tied to the conservation organizations.
Conservation organizations have long promoted the idea of giving charitable donations as gifts during the holidays, but the Art For The Animals Program goes a step further. By using folk art and nature-friendly goods from Africa, India, Asia, Asia Pacific, and Latin America as thank you gifts to attract new donors, Art For The Animals also creates new income streams for communities in which endangered animals live – giving local people a way to earn income from activities that preserve their natural resources and unique cultures.
This year, Art For The Animals is supporting 24 threatened or endangered species and habitats programs of 12 conservation and research organizations working around the world, and has added new donor appreciation gifts to each of these programs.
Wild Silk Aviator Scarves - Conservation Through Poverty Alleviation International (CPALI) is one of the more striking new programs due to its focus on wild silk production as a conservation tool. Wild silk production allows Malagasy people to extract value from the larvae that feed on the native plants in Madagascar's border forests, giving them a vested interest in protecting these forests – and hence the plant and animal populations found within them. Wild silk textiles promote Malagasy culture and make extraordinary donor thank you gifts. A $60 donation to CPALI to save Madagascar's forests is tied to a wild silk aviator scarf made from hand-spun and land-loomed wild silk and natural dyes by Malagasy women as part of the non-profit Ny Tanitsika, and the weavers' cooperative Ira Landy.
Hand Carved Gorilla Peg Racks - Another featured donor gift is a Gorilla Peg Rack made by Virunga Arts, a business enterprise unit of International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP). A $50 donation gift to Save a Mountain Gorilla supports IGCP's work to save the last remaining mountain gorillas living in the Virunga region of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Virunga Arts provides product and marketing expertise to artisans in the surrounding regions who are contributing to the conservation of these endangered animals.
Snare Art Sculpture – "Snare Art" is another unique donor gift apt to capture the imagination of thoughtful supporters. Wildlife Conservation Network's Painted Dog Conservation program has contracted with local artists to create sculptures made from the snares removed from the bush by anti-poaching patrols. Donations to benefit Painted Dog Conservation range from $15, for which donors receive a simple wire bracelet, to $250, which is tied to intricate snare wire sculptures.
Felt Booties – Felt booties made by Snow Leopard Enterprises are being added to help Save the Snow Leopards in Mongolia and the Kyrgz Republic. Snow Leopard Enterprises (Irbis) involves 200 herder households who have signed contracts not to poach either the snow leopard or its prey. In return, the program helps the families create marketable products from their camel and sheep wool, and earn income from the sale of these products.
Keweju skirt – The most unusual new thank you gift is the keweju skirt is hand beaded by indigenous women in S uriname in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), our newest conservation partner works with Foundation NANA for Trio women and other groups to create income opportunities to sustain the village, preserve biodiversity and their unique artistic traditions.
Rainforest Baskets -- The Wounaan and Embera Indians weave these extraordinary baskets using natural palm fibers found in Panama's Darien rainforest. The color pigments are derived from the earth and various plants. Motifs portray village life, local animals, or geometric patterns used in body painting and tattooing ceremonies. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is working with local Indians to sustainable harvest the palm fibers used to weave these baskets. Donations to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to Save the Rainforest and receive these museum quality baskets range from $100-$350
Those who have given through the program wax enthusiastic about the concept and the donor gifts. Gift donations are increasingly popular among aging boomers who have enough stuff and are looking to simplify the holidays and turn excess consumerism into a positive market force to benefit conservation. But during the holidays, it's nice to package that idea with a memento - a piece of art that represents the animal, the region or local culture. For some, it's a tiny sea horse ornament, and for others its an authentic Mongolian ger - the program's appeal spans age groups and income levels.
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, or request a catalog visit www.artfortheanimals.org or call 1-831-624-6100.
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 the people who share the region and resources with the animals can make a living.
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