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Rainforest Ecosystems
Can Ranchers Save the Rainforest?
Jun 1st
Triple Pundit: Can Ranchers Save the Rainforest?.
Clear cutting of the rain forest for the purpose of cattle grazing is seen by many as the number one enemy of the Amazon. Ironically, it may be that those doing the cutting are the future saviours of this vast expanse of land often dubbed the "lungs of the earth".
Through an incentive program similar to that employed in the logging industry, producers of Amazonian soya and beef could slap a sustainability seal on their products if they adhere to environmental laws that restrict the amount of clear cutting being done in the cultivation of these foods.
Last month, The Nature Conservancy….announced an agreement by which Cargill, a huge American agriculture company, will buy soya near its export terminal at the confluence of the Amazon and Tapajos rivers only from farmers who obey the law or are clearly moving towards doing so.
Theater group develops curriculum based on its children’s play “Voices of the Rainforest”
May 24th
The Honolulu Advertiser – Hawaii’s Newspaper
Schools scaling back on performing arts instruction to make time for more academic work might want to take cues from ‘Ohia Productions.
The theater group has developed a curriculum based on its children’s play "Voices of the Rainforest" that not only gets students singing and dancing, but also learning about science, social studies and math. To the kids at Koko Head Elementary, who have been parti-cipating in the program since January, the program is a blast. "It’s funner than doing math," enthused one fifth-grader after a 40-minute session on Tuesday. The curriculum is matched to national and state grade-level standards, said Michael Paekukui, ‘Ohia Production’s educational outreach director.
This is the first time ‘Ohia Productions has provided focused instruction at a school, although the group has done shorter residencies at other schools. The program has worked so well that it could branch out to other schools. Since the public schools will have to focus more on science as part of federal No Child Left Behind Act requirements, the combination of arts and academics gives the program appeal. "We’re not only the arts, but we’re really heavy science," said Paekukui. All students will participate in a culminating performance on parents’ night, but the curriculum varies by grade level. For instance, while second-graders are learning about the extinction of native birds, fifth-graders are learning about the destruction caused by wild pigs. Kindergartners learn simpler things, such as differentiating between animals that fly, float and swim.
JPMorgan Chase Joins Effort To Save Endangered Forests And Stop Global Warming
May 24th
JPMorgan Chase Joins Effort To Save Endangered Forests And Stop Global Warming.
JPMorgan Chase Joins Effort To Save Endangered Forests And Stop Global Warming
Author: Rainforest Action Network
Published on Apr 26, 2005, 00:55
Rainforest Action Network today commended JPMorgan Chase on its adoption of a comprehensive environmental policy to address the challenges of global warming and deforestation and recognize the rights of indigenous nations. The policy sets new best practices on the environment in several critical areas including carbon mitigation and reduction, endangered forest protection, independently certified sustainable forestry as well as land and consultation rights of native communities everywhere. It is the first policy of its kind in the financial sector to create a special heading acknowledging "No Go Zones," a major step forward in the effort to protect ecosystems that are most valuable intact and untouched by industry. Developed in cooperation with groups including Rainforest Action Network, the new policy marks another environmental milestone in the private financial sector and follows the adoption of similar policies by Citigroup and Bank of America last year.Major advances include:
• Global Warming: JPMorgan Chase will encourage clients to develop carbon mitigation plans that include measurement and disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions as well as plans to reduce or offset them. In a financial industry first, the bank will internalize carbon pollution for power sector projects by integrating the financial cost of greenhouse gas emissions into its analysis
• Sustainable Forestry Certification: The policy makes JPMorgan Chase the first private bank to state a preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.
• Illegal Logging: The policy will require JPMorgan Chase clients that “process, purchase or trade” forest products from high-risk countries to have certifiable chain of custody systems in place to ensure that the wood comes from legal sources.
• Human Rights: The bank recognizes the right of indigenous individuals and communities to “self determination over issues affecting their lands and territories, traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used.”
• Project Finance: JPMorgan Chase joins the Equator Principles, lowers the application threshold to $10 million, and broadens the scope to include “all loans, debt and equity underwriting, financial advisories and project-linked derivative transactions,” specifically naming the mining, forestry, and oil and gas industries.
• Private Equity Risk Management: The policy marks the first time that any financial institution has integrated environmental risk management into the due diligence process for its private equity divisions.
• Leadership on Public Policy: In another industry first, JPMorgan Chase has agreed to arrange cooperative meetings with other financial institutions to advocate for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and “focus on specific projects to alter the emissions trajectory of the US economy.”
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