Nov 2015 BATFN – Linking Conservation, Health, and Human Rights in Tropical Forests (Berkeley)

Join us on November 12 at 6:30 pm for a Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event on conservation, health, and human rights, held at UC Berkeley’s 103 Mulford Hall.

The event will feature an interactive presentation by Shannon Randolph, an environmental anthropologist and conservation specialist with Stanford d.school training in human-centered design. She will share how she trains teams in rapid ethnography in order to understand local reasoning and cultural meaning of environmental resources relevant to conservation and zoonotic disease risk.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with specialists who are at the interface between conservation, health, and/or human rights in tropical forests. Panelists will include Shannon Randolph, Christopher Herndon, M.D. (President and Co-Founder, Acaté Amazon Conservation), and Adam Zuckerman (Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner, Amazon Watch).

Admission is free and open to all, with refreshments (including wine and beer) provided courtesy of the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network.

PLEASE RSVP so we know how much food and drink to buy.

Additional information about the panelists:

Shannon Randolph is an environmental anthropologist and conservation specialist with extensive Stanford d.school training in human-centered design. Her mission is to design a path to reduce the loss of valuable environmental and cultural resources and zoonotic disease risk in the world’s most vulnerable places. Most recently, she worked with Wildlife Conservation Society to design locally appropriate water conservation and to understand the extent and value of marine and forest resources on islands threatened by rising sea levels. She has also worked with San Francisco non-profits to design mission-aligned revenue-generating models; with Stanford’s School of Education to design user-friendly approaches to administration; and with Bay area businesses to design legal strategies for corporate lawyers. She is currently working with National Geographic to design conservation messaging for zoonotic disease-prevention related conservation. Her work area has ranged from the SF Bay area, to Oceania and Africa.

Christopher Herndon has worked over the past 15 years in some of the most remote regions of the Amazon to conduct research on the medicinal plant knowledge and healing systems of its indigenous peoples. As a medical student, he collaborated with shamans in southern Suriname to develop an innovative approach for the integration of indigenous health practices into healthcare delivery, a program that remains ongoing years after implementation. He is currently President and Co-Founder of Acaté Amazon Conservation, an on-the ground conservation organization that directly partners with the Matsés indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon. Acaté and the Matsés recently completed the Matsés Traditional Medicine Encyclopedia, a 500 page repository of ancestral healing knowledge written by elder shamans in their own language and words, the first of its kind and scope.

Adam Zuckerman has spent the last three years as Amazon Watch’s Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner. In that role Adam helps to amplify the voices of indigenous communities in the western Amazon in their fight to keep their territory free of oil operations. Prior to Amazon Watch, Adam spent years organizing with activist diaspora communities and worked for an international human rights grantmaker. Adam speaks fluent Spanish and has worked in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Guardian, and numerous other publications.

Oct 2015 BATFN – Monitoring Forests in Near Real Time (Stanford)

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Join us on Thursday, October 8 from 6-8 pm for a Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event held at the Carnegie Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University.

Global Forest Watch, a project led by the World Resources Institute, is a dynamic online platform that empowers people around the world with the information they need to better manage and conserve forest landscapes. GFW unites the latest satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing in an online forest monitoring and alert system. The platform allows users to obtain information about the status of forests worldwide, analyze forest trends, and create custom maps of forest landscapes.

Please join the World Resource Institute’s Sarah Lake and Karla Renschler as they discuss and demonstrate the GFW platform, as well as the associated Commodities and Fires “apps,” which empower users to analyze the impacts of key commodities on forests, and monitor fires within forested landscapes.

Admission is free and open to all, with refreshments (including wine and beer) courtesy of the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network.

Please RSVP here

Sep 2015 BATFN – Perimeter defense (San Francisco)

Perimeter Defense: Innovative Technologies for Detecting and Preventing Illegal Logging

This event is hosted by World Resources Institute’s Forest Legality Alliance, a Mongabay partner.

Join us this September to discuss the current capacity needs for detecting and preventing illegal logging and the present and future of “perimeter defense” technologies. This meeting will facilitate dialogue between users and technology providers to scale up effective application of new innovations in the field.

The main event will be held at the California Academy of Sciences on Wednesday, September 16th, followed by an “un-conference” on Friday, September 18th, where participants can continue discussions on topics of their choice.

This event will be held alongside the Conservation Drones Summit, hosted by the California Academy of Sciences, on Thursday, September 17.

Register here to join us for this exciting event! Stay tuned for more information (see preliminary agenda below).

Questions? Please see this post for contact details.

Perimeter-Defense-Invitation

Aug 2015 BATFN – Forever Sabah (San Francisco)

Forever Sabah

Co-hosted by the California Academy of Sciences

 

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Please join BATFN at the California Academy of Sciences for “Forever Sabah–a transition towards a diversified, equitable circular economy for the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo,” a lecture by Cynthia Ong, as part of the Academy’s Explore, Explain and Sustain! seminar lecture series.

Ong is the Executive Director of LEAP–Land Empowerment Animals People–an organization that seeks “new ways which provoke sustainable ecological co-existence.”

Reception to follow. Admission is free and open to all.

Please RSVP

You don’t need to bring physical tickets.

We hope to see you there!

May 2015 BATFN – Beyond the Hashtag (Palo Alto)

A Discussion on New Tech Tools for Environmental Activism

Generously hosted by the Patagonia store in Palo Alto

 

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We’re pleased to announce that the May 2015 BATFN will take place from 6pm-8pm at the Patagonia Store in Palo Alto. Dave Grenell, co-founder of Rainforest Connection, and Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.org, will speak about creativity, conservation storytelling and their projects that are helping rural communities around the world take action to protect the environment.

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Admission is free and open to all, with refreshments courtesy of the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network. All attendees are invited to donate their old cell phones to the cause.

Please RSVP so we know how much beer to buy

You don’t need to bring physical tickets.

We hope to see you there!

Some pictures from the event

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Apr 2015 BATFN – The Last Place on Earth: Exposing the Threats to the Leuser Ecosystem (San Francisco)

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At 6.5 million acres, the Leuser Ecosystem is a world unto itself—a rich and verdant landscape on the island of Sumatra of intact tropical lowland rainforests, cloud draped mountains and steamy peatlands swamps. It is among the most biodiverse and ancient ecosystems ever documented by science, and it is the last place where Sumatran orangutans, elephants, tigers, rhinos and sun bears still roam side by side.
But the Leuser Ecosystem exists at a tenuous crossroads. Despite being protected under Indonesian national law, massive industrial development for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations and mining threaten the entire ecosystem, as well as the continued wellbeing of the millions of Acehnese people who depend on it for their food, water and livelihoods.

Join Rainforest Action Network’s Gemma Tillack and Chelsea Matthews and a special guest from the Leuser Ecosystem, as they discuss the threats to this incredible ecosystem and the solutions needed to ensure its survival.

Where: Rainforest Action Network, 425 Bush St, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94108
When: Wed, Apr 1. Doors open at 6:00pm, talk begins at 7:00pm

Please register if you plan to attend.

Special forest event in San Francisco

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On December 18th, Earth Innovation Institute is hosting a happy hour and discussion on forests and climate change, and California’s critical role in addressing these issues.

The short panel discussion will feature:
– Daniel Nepstad (Earth Innovation)
– Greg Asner (Carnegie Institution for Science)
– Rhett Butler (Mongabay)
– Michael Jenkins (Forest Trends)
– Cynthia Ong (LEAP – Land Empowerment Animals People)

When: Thursday, December 18th, 6-8 pm
Where: A.muse gallery, 614 Alabama Street (18th & Alabama), Mission neighborhood, SF

Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

You must RSVP to attend: bit.ly/BATFN1214

Nov 2014 BATFN: Conserving Ethiopia’s Forests (California Academy of Sciences)

Conserving the Forests of Ethiopia – One Church at a Time?

NOTE: THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!

 

California Academy of Sciences

We’re pleased to announce that the November 2014 BATFN will take place from 5pm-7pm at the California Academy of Sciences, and will feature a talk given by Dr. Margaret (Meg) Lowman, Chief of Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences.

The focus for this event is Ethiopia, which is part of one of the more unusual forest regions of the planet. Come learn about how conservationists are working in this part of Africa, including auctioning the naming rights of species to fund conservation efforts.

Come early to participate in a unique opportunity to join our speaker, “Canopy Meg” Lowman, for a short expedition into the treetops just outside the Cal Academy. Meg and her team of onsite canopy access experts will offer a short climb activity from 4-5 PM. You must wear sneakers or comfortable shoes, long pants, and come to the Business Entrance off Nancy Pelosi Drive. CAS will be providing food and drink.

You must RSVP to attend and register for one of the following ticket types:

– RSVP to become an “arbornaut” with Meg Lohman at 4 pm, followed by the BATFN event
– RSVP to attend the BATFN event only from 6-8 pm (optional: come watch tree-climbers at 4pm)

You don’t need to bring physical tickets, but your name must be registered via the EventBrite system. RSVP soon since space is limited!

If you plan to join us, RSVP via this form. Space is very limited: if you don’t have a ticket, you won’t be able to get in.

We hope to see you there!

NOTE: THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!

 

Google Earth image of Ethiopia

Sept BATFN: the impacts of gold mining in the Amazon

Illegal Gold Mining, Mercury Contamination and Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

 

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Join us on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:00pm at this academic year’s first Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event, held at the Carnegie Department of Global Ecology (260 Panama Street) on Stanford Campus.

Luis Fernandez, Director of the Carnegie Amazon Mercury Ecosystem Project, will discuss the dynamics that have made artisanal gold mining both the primary driver of deforestation in the Western Amazon and the number one source of anthropogenic mercury in the world today, and describe its effects on forests, wildlife and humans.

    Title: Illegal Gold Mining, Mercury Contamination and Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

    Speaker: Luis E. Fernandez is a tropical ecologist at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, and is the director of the Carnegie Amazon Mercury Project (CAMEP), a multi-institution research initiative that examines the impacts of artisanal gold mining, mercury contamination and deforestation on natural and human ecosystems in the Madre De Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon.

    Description: Luis will discuss the dynamics that have made artisanal gold mining both the primary driver of deforestation in the Western Amazon and the number one source of anthropogenic mercury in the world today, and describe its effects on forests, wildlife and humans.

Food and drinks will be served starting at 6pm, and Luis will speak around 7pm with discussion to follow.

The event is free and open to all—please feel free to forward to your friends. To RSVP, please visit the BATFN Facebook page or reply to Kelly McManus ([email protected]). We hope to see you there!

July 2014 BATFN: Saving the Amazon (San Francisco)

What’s Behind Brazil’s Big Drop in Amazon Deforestation?

 

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The July 2014 BATFN will take place from 6pm-8:30pm Jul 31 at a.Muse gallery (614 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110). The event is hosted by Earth Innovation Institute and is free and open to the public.

We’re pleased to announce that Dan Nesptad, Senior Scientist & Executive Director at the Earth Innovation Institute, will present the results of his team’s recent Science paper, Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains (Mongabay coverage).

      Description: Since 2005, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has declined 70% below the historic ten-year annual average, keeping 3.2 billion tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere and avoiding 86,000 km² of forest clearing. As a result Brazil is the global leader in climate change mitigation. The achievement is made more remarkable by the fact that soy and beef production—the main drivers of deforestation—continued to grow.

Daniel Nepstad, senior scientist and founder of Earth Innovation Institute, will present the results of a recent Science article that reviews the mixture of policies, supply chain interventions, and market conditions that led to this tremendous decline in deforestation. The authors conclude that the decline in Amazon deforestation remains fragile as the interventions that contributed to the initial decline are operating in isolation and delivering few positive incentives to the communities and farmers whose land-use decisions drive deforestation. Daniel Nepstad will discuss how these lessons drive Earth Innovation’s strategy to align policy, supply chain initiatives, and finance to secure reductions in deforestation while stimulating investment for low-emission rural development.

If you plan to join us, please RSVP via this form or the Facebook event page.

We hope to see you there!