Global warming threats can equal lep conservation

[John Shuey]

Of interest to this discussion line - folks should take a look at the web
site of the industry group that is trying to "corner" the market of
greenhouse gas exchange -  http://www.chicagoclimatex.com  .

If you take a look at the founding members - you will see a group of
industries that have a lot at stake in the global warming game - i.e. they
are huge producers of greenhouse emissions by and large. If you want to
bring this back to leps (in the vein I was trying to do with the restoration
stories in Indiana) take a look at
http://nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/resources/ - which
overviews how carbon credits can be used to restore systems like Brazil's
Atlantic forests (and note the AEP connection - one of the founding members
of the above group).

It may seem like a somewhat unholy alliance for conservation groups like the
one I work for and Conservation International to get involved in helping
big-time polluters clean up their image and perhaps make a dent in their
emissions, but where else are you going to find the really big bucks needed
to achieve some of the critical conservation needs facing the world at the
moment.  In Latin America - off the top of my head I can think of adding 5M
acres to Noel Kempf National Park (Bolivia) the attempt to restore
connectivity in the Atlantic forests on Brazil, reforestation in the
Guatemalan highlands, and 100K acres added to Rio Bravo (Belize), all paid
for by US utilities and manufactures as business investments.  There is a
huge opportunity here for real conservation across the entire planet, if
folks are willing to reach out across the void and tap this source of
funding.

Groups like Ducks Unlimited have tapped it in the US, and obviously TNC is
involved - but why not Lepidopterists groups??   Wouldn't it be better if
butterfly friendly "carbon sequestrations" projects were implemented instead
of some chemical engineer figuring out that the "best" way to sequester
carbon is planting eucalyptus in Brazil (a project that was actually being
pondered at one time)?  Utilities really are dieing to find "local" projects
that help their image in their service territories - most of their customers
could care less about what happens in some far away land.

I challenge leppers to figure out how get some habitat protected in your
region.  Go to http://www.nisource.com/enviro/ecf.asp to see an example of a
utility that funds environmental projects throughout a chunk of the eastern
US.  I bet that your local utility has a similar program as well. Take their
money and do good things.....

Best,
john
_________________
John Shuey
Director of Conservation Science
Indiana Office of The Nature Conservancy




 
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