Brazilian Amazon

[Shueyi at aol.com]

In a message dated 98-07-18 03:02:39 EDT, you write:

<< 
 John, I'd love to go on such a trip.  The trouble with these trips with
 the TNC, however, is that the last time I looked, a portion of the cost
 was a donation to the TNC.
  >>
Liz, 

 That's the whole point of these trips - money to do conservation work.  There
are plenty of groups that lead "ecotourism" trips to exotic places, and TNC is
not a travel agency.  For example, there is a travel group that leads bird-
watching trips to El Triunfo that donates a whopping $500 to the Insituto de
Historia Natural, which hardly covers the cost of staff time to guide the
hikers in.  Our trips are geared to generate income to TNC, which is then
transfered to our local partner so that we can get work done, in this case
several thousand dollars to the Instituto.  Thus, TNC will never give up the
donation - its the only reason we do the trips.  

Keep in mind that the mission of The Nature Conservancy is "to preserve
plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life
on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive."  In theory,
EVERYTHING we do addesses the mission.  

John A. Shuey
Director of Conservation Biology
Indiana Office of The Nature Conservancy