Guest guest Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Rainforest Matters - July 2006 About Us News Where We Work Donate Rainforest Matters Index July 2006 Advancing Sustainable Tourism in Ecuador Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee Now Available at SAM’S CLUB Summer Reading List Jungle Masquerade Advancing Sustainable Tourism in Ecuador The Rainforest Alliance recently signed an agreement with Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism, María Isabel Salvador, and the non-profit group, Federación Nacional de Cámaras de Turismo, to promote and implement sustainable tourism activities in Ecuador on a broad scale. This combined effort will target both national and international audiences to encourage eco-friendly and socially responsible tourism. The Rainforest Alliance also signed an agreement with Tropic Journeys in Nature, confirming the company’s commitment to promoting sustainable tourism throughout its marketing chain. Tropic works hard to protect the environment and conserve local cultures while improving the well-being of communities. One example of their successful efforts is their work with the Huaorani people of the Ecuadorian Amazon. For thousands of years, until the late 1950s, the Huaorani people lived as hunters and gatherers without contact with the outside world. Their isolation ended when they encountered oil companies exploring the region’s jungles and missionaries who wanted to change the Huaorani's traditional way of life. In the 1990’s, Tropic Journey’s in Nature began building a relationship with the Huaorani with the goal of educating the public about their culture and local environment and helping the Huaorani preserve these treasures. This work earned Tropic a prize in the 1998 TO DO! Contest for Socially Responsible Tourism, which motivated the company to found the first Ecuadorian network for eco-tourism in local communities. Today, Tropic offers 12 similar trips to over 40 local communities throughout Ecuador where travelers can explore nature and learn about local cultures and indigenous peoples’ relationships with their environment. Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee Now Available at SAM’S CLUB We are thrilled to announce that Rainforest Alliance Certified Member’s Mark coffee by Marques de Paiva is now available on the shelves of all 567 SAM’S CLUB locations throughout the United States. As Matt Kistler, SAM’S CLUB vice president of private brands explains, " We wanted to create a private brand coffee program that was good for business and the environment. It’s about the democratization of sustainability. Because of our scale and volume, every consumer will be able to afford this high-quality Member’s Mark coffee. " Roasted by Café Bom Dia, Marques de Paiva coffee is grown in the Atlantic Forest region, south of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. While only 7% of the original forest area remains, the Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s top-10 biodiversity hotspots containing nearly 20,000 species of plants and 2,200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. The Rainforest Alliance has been working with its local partner IMAFLORA, a leading Brazilian nonprofit group, to bring the region’s coffee farms up to certification standards. Coffee cultivation is a major threat to this precious region because of the deforestation and erosion that result from traditional industrial operations. Rainforest Alliance certification has improved waste-management systems, reduced pesticide use and resulted in healthier soils and water supplies. Workers also developed an ecosystem management plan, which includes planting 100,000 trees over the next 10 years, and acquired nearly 100 acres of forest for preservation. Summer Reading List Check out some of these new books on everything from our food choices to climate change and add one to your summer reading list! The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth By Tim Flannery Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006 The Weather Makers is both an urgent warning and a call to arms, outlining the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future. Recycle: The Essential Guide Edited by Duncan McCorquodale and Cigalle Hanaor Black Dog Publishing Ltd., 2006 A comprehensive resource on recycling that explains different materials in depth, how the recycling process occurs and what each individual reader can do to facilitate these processes. What to Eat By Marion Nestle North Point Press, 2006 Marion Nestle is here to tell us what’s what -- to give us the facts we need to make sensible choices from the bewildering array of foods available to us. Jungle Masquerade Jungle Masquerade will be THE wild and roaring party of the 2006 summer. Over 400 young, affluent, socially concerned trendsetters will attend this wildly exciting event on Saturday, August 26th at 8 PM in La Jolla, CA. Event highlights will include live entertainment, dinner by the bite and open bar. To purchase tickets and for more information please contact Neda Arabshahi at (646) 452-1957 or narabshahi. Send free Rainforest Alliance eCards! Sign up to receive Rainforest Matters each month by email! © 2006 Rainforest Alliance Rainforest Matters is a monthly update from the Rainforest Alliance. Rainforest Alliance 665 Broadway, 500 New York, NY 10012 To prevent mailbox filters from deleting mailings from Rainforest Alliance, add rainforestalliace to your address book. Un from this mailing. Modify your profile and subscription preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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