Bay Area Tropical Forest Network
San Francisco Bay Area events: forests & conservation
Join us for an art exhibition and lecture on the impacts of small scale gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon featuring artist Maisie McNeice and PhD candidate Jimena Diaz Leiva.
Thursday November 21, 2019 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Stattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705.
Join us on May 24 from 6:30-8:30 pm for a Mongabay / Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) event held at the Patagonia store in Palo Alto.
The event will feature a conversation with Robin Martin and Greg Asner about cutting-edge conservation technology.
Robin Martin and Greg Asner have pioneered the use of advanced LiDAR and spectrometer sensors to study tropical forest ecosystems, revealing information about biodiversity, habitat function and health, and ecosystem services. Their work has been widely profiled by the likes of Science Magazine, National Geographic, and hundreds of other outlets. They’ve now turned their system to coral reefs, which may support the development of the first comprehensive global reef monitoring system in an era when the world’s corals are deeply threatened by rising temperatures, growing carbon emissions, and unsustainable fishing and extraction. Rhett Butler, founder of conservation news web site Mongabay.com, will talk with Robin and Greg about how technology can help protect an conserve these critical ecosystems.
Admission is free and open to all, with refreshments (including wine and beer) courtesy of Mongabay and the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN).
WHEN:
May 24 from 6:30-8:30 pm
WHERE:
Patagonia Palo Alto store
525 Alma St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
The Center for Global Development, together with The Nature Conservancy California Chapter and the University of California Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), is hosting two upcoming events in the Bay Area to launch the book Why Forests? Why Now? The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change. The events feature Dr. Jonah Busch, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, who co-authored the book with Frances Seymour.
Monday, March 6th
5:30 – 7:30 pm
The Nature Conservancy California Chapter
201 Mission Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA
Please RSVP to [email protected]
Thursday, March 9th
4:30 – 6:30 pm
Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
Giannini Hall 248
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
From the authors:
“Why Forests? Why Now? should be mandatory reading for people who already care deeply about tropical forests, as well as for those who remain not yet convinced.”
—Alec Baldwin, Actor and international advocate for forests and indigenous peoples
“Seymour and Busch highlight an important achievement of global climate negotiations—agreement on cooperation to reduce tropical deforestation—and suggest an effective path for the realization of this goal.”
—Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Light refreshments will be served
On February 15th 2017 from 4-6 pm, the Packard Foundation is hosting a book launch event celebrating the publication of:
This comprehensive synthesis of the latest research makes the case that tropical forests are essential for both climate stability and sustainable development. Why Forests? Why Now? covers every aspect of forest conservation and finance to underscore the urgency, affordability, and feasibility of scaling up funding for reducing deforestation, particularly through performance-based approaches.
Opening Remarks:
Walt Reid, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Panelists:
– Chris Elliott, Climate and Land Use Alliance (moderator)
– Frances Seymour, Center for Global Development
– Dan Nepstad, Earth Innovation Institute
– Donna Lee, Climate Change and Land Use Policy Consultant
Location:
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
343 Second St. Los Altos, CA 94022
Despite their importance, tropical forests and their ecosystems are being destroyed at a high, increasing rate in most forest-rich countries. The good news is that the science, economics, and politics are aligned to support a framework for international cooperation to reverse tropical deforestation. Now is the time for countries to increase investment in protecting tropical forests.
Light refreshments will be served.
Join us on October 26 from 7-8:30 pm for an event co-hosted by the Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN), Earth Innovation Institute, Forest Trends, and the UC Berkeley Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and featuring Tião Viana, the governor of Brazil’s state of Acre.
Acre, Brazil has one of the most advanced state-wide systems for promoting sustainable development in the tropics. During the last year, when deforestation rates across the Brazilian Amazon increased 24%, Acre’s deforestation declined, falling to 44% of its ten-year average. Acre is leading the way on forest conservation while simultaneously driving economic growth and ensuring inclusion for its people. This event features the premier of The Story of SISA—a short film examining the powerful partnership between the state of Acre and the indigenous and traditional peoples working to keep its forests standing while improving livelihoods.
6:45 Doors open
7:00 Welcome by Rhett Butler, Mongabay and the Bay Area Tropical Forests Network
7:05 Introduction to the Low Carbon Economy by Dan Kammen, UC Berkeley, Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
7:10 Introduction to Acre’s Grand Experiment by Daniel Nepstad, Executive Director, Earth Innovation Institute
7:15 Address by Tião Viana, Governor of Acre, Brazil
7:30 The Story of SISA
7:45 Panel discussion with representatives of Acre’s indigenous and business communities followed by audience questions
8:30 Closing Remarks by Rhett Butler
Please note, the structure of this event is more formal that the typical BATFN. The program will start promptly at 7 pm, so we recommend you arrive a few minutes early.
Admission is free and open to all.
WHEN: October 26, 2016 from 6:45 PM to 8:45 PM (PDT)
WHERE: Brower Center Goldman Theater. 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94705
BATFN has been on hiatus the past few months, but we’re getting ready for some meetings in coming months. In the meantime, we’ll highlight a few events that may be of interest to members.
Forests lost and found: deforestation control and forest resurgence in Latin America – Susanna B. Hecht
Hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science – Department of Global Ecology
Dr. Susanna B. Hecht is professor in the Luskin School of Public Affairs and Institute of the Environment at UCLA. She is also Professor of Environmental History at the Graduate Institute for International Development in Geneva. Her work has focused on the political ecology of development in Amazonia and Central America as well as their environmental history. Her work engages the politics of development, indigenous knowledge, Agroecology systems, forest transitions, and social, ideological and historical structures of tropical sciences. The author of numerous articles, and many books and edited volumes (including the recent “Social Lives of Forests” her recent book, “The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha” was the 2015 Winner of the Melville Prize for the best book in Latin American Environmental History, by the American Historical Association.
WHEN:
Tuesday, May 24, 2016.
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
WHERE:
Turing Auditorium at Stanford University, CA
The June 2014 BATFN will take place from 6pm-8:30pm Jun 19 at the Carnegie Institution complex (260 Panama St, Stanford, CA 94305). The event is open to the public.
We’re pleased to announce that Sharon Smith of the Union of Concerned Scientists will present “Deodorant, Diet, Dollars—Recent Successes in Reducing Deforestation”.
If you plan to join us, please RSVP via this form or the Facebook event page.
We hope to see you there!
The next BATFN will take place May 1, 2014 at 6pm at the RAN office, 425 Bush Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA (nearest BART stop Montgomery). The event is open to the public.
We’re pleased to announce that Ratri Kusumohartono from Sawit Watch will be presenting:
Sawit Watch was founded in 1998 and since then, has built a network of over 130 individual members and local contacts working with dozens of local communities in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, Papua and small islands. Sawit Watch’s beneficiaries are local communities, indigenous people, oil palm smallholders and labors. Sawit Watch’s first mandate is based on the call to support local communities who are fighting or have lost their forest and livelihoods because of large-scale oil palm expansion.
As palm oil industry is growing, negative impacts due to its existence are expanding. Beside communities’ loss of lands and livelihoods, smallholders and laborers are also exploited by large scale plantations. In order to address this, Sawit Watch is currently also working and supporting smallholders and laborers to strengthen their positions./ul>
Doors open at 6pm. The presentation will take place around 7pm.
If you are interested in attending the event, it would be helpful if you RSVP via the Facebook event page. The event is open to everyone so feel free to forward to your friends.
Greetings! The Bay Area Tropical Forest Network (BATFN) is back!
BATFN will take place Thursday, Feb 27, 2013 at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley (2607 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA).
We’re pleased to announce that Van Butsic will give a brief talk about the impact of conflict on forest loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
Doors open at 6pm for networking/conversation and Butsic’s talk will likely begin around 7 pm, followed by discussion. We’ll provide some snacks and drinks, but any food, drink, or other contributions would be appreciated.
If you are interested in attending the event, it would be helpful if you RSVP via this form. The event is open to everyone so feel free to forward to your friends.
We hope you can make it.
The final BATFN of 2013 took place Sunday, November 17 from 6-8 pm on board Greenpeace’s ship, The Rainbow Warrior, which was docked at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero near the Exploratorium.
The theme for the event was “An Evening Exploring Solutions to Deforestation” and involved a panel of speakers who talked about one solution that has worked in the past to reduce deforestation.
Here is video from the speakers’ portion of the event.
BATFN Meeting: Solutions to Deforestation from Paul Stoutenburgh on Vimeo.