Disney Conservation Efforts with Gorillas

Update on Gorilla Rescue Center in Eastern Congo

One of orphaned gorillas has made itself a home at the GRACE center. The first wave of gorillas have instantly relaxed in their new forest home- eating vegetation and climbing trees.

Currently under construction, GRACE, which was initiated by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International with advice on design and systems provided by experts from Disney’s Animal Programs and Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), will initially house 10 orphaned gorillas currently living in temporary facilities under the care of the Congolese Park Authority (ICCN), the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP), as well as the Fossey Fund.

For more information, visit Disney Conservation

ALBA skin care products help the rainforests-help to plant a tree!

Buy Now and You Can Help Save the Rainforest

The world's rain forests are as rich in beauty as they are bountiful in the life forms they sustain. Many of the medications we use today, such as cortisone, come from rain forest plants. Unlike other forests, they have poor, thin soils. Virtually all of the nutrients are in the plants. When the trees are destroyed, what was once a dense woodland full of life becomes a barren wasteland.

For 17 years the Arbor Day Foundation has been working to save the rainforests and now you can help. BUY ONE Alba Botanica Rainforest Product and Alba will preserve 250 sq. feet of rainforest in your honor.

Wildlife death toll from BP is likely to include dolphins

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is taking its toll on the region's wildlife: brown pelicans, sea turtles, several species of fish, and now dolphins have been found dead. The National Marine Fisheries Service reported today finding six dead dolphins in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama since May 2nd. Officials are saying the deaths could be related to the oil spill or may be due to natural deaths from calving. They are currently testing tissue samples to determine if oil pollution was a cause of death. Dolphins have been observed swimming in oil-stained waters off of Louisiana.

from mongabay

Cousteau Jr: 'This Is a Nightmare... a Nightmare' - scenes from underwater

Cousteau Jr: 'This Is a Nightmare... a Nightmare' - scenes from underwater

Making a difference with Eco-Friendly Coffee

Rainforest and other endangered species habitat is often cleared for coffee planting, making it a poor environmental purchase. Is there a way to get your morning coffee without a side of guilt?
One cup of shade-grown coffee will preserve more than two square feet of rainforest—and the birds that inhabit the trees.

As outlined by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's groundbreaking publication in 1996 Coffee, Conservation & Commerce in the Western Hemisphere there are many types of coffee farms throughout the coffee-growing regions, and the best type for wildlife and preservation of trees is the traditional natural grown rustic coffee farm.

The major shift in farming methods appears to have happened in the 1970s when farmers began to modernize with chemicals that eliminated diseases that formed on sun-exposed coffee trees.

As this practice became more and more popular, farms began removing the native shade trees to allow for more coffee trees. The sun coffee fields or technified coffee allowed the farmers to maximize yield and the speed at which they could harvest, but greatly damaged this ecosystem.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a purveyor of coffee that is grown in the rustic or traditional form. We believe strongly in supporting these farmers because they are preserving trees in some of the most critical areas in the world.

A few years ago we wanted to look into the impact that a single 10-ounce bag of coffee had on the forest. Whereas a sun plantation has no trees, the rustic coffee farm has multiple layers of forest. On our farm, it takes about 65 square feet of rain forest to produce one roasted 10-ounce bag of shade-grown, organic fair trade coffee ($6.95).

How Much Rainforest Does One Cup of Shade-Grown Coffee Protect?

Each co-op or farm is going to be different. The Arbor Day Foundation used numbers from the co-op that it works with in Chiapas, Mexico.

Acres of co-op farm: 617
Containers of coffee produced: 8
Burlap bags of coffee: 2,000 (250 bags per container)
Pounds per burlap bag: 152.117
Pounds of green coffee (total): 304,234
Pounds of roasted coffee (total): 258,598.9 (approx. 85% of green coffee weight)
Ounces of roasted coffee: 4,137,582.4 (16 ounces per pound)
No. 10-ounce coffee bags: 413,758.24
Acres per bag: .0014912
Square feet per bag: 64.956 (43,560 square feet per acre)
Square feet per cup: 2.338 (approx .36 oz per cup)



Read more: The Daily Green

Ape Conservation in Africa

Wild gorillas and chimpanzees are on the brink of extinction. Habitat loss and poaching threaten these magnificent animals like never before. 

Ape Action Africa is committed to ape conservation in Africa - protecting Cameroon’s great apes through direct action. Our front line conservation work includes rescuing orphaned gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys, providing them with individual care, and giving them a safe forest sanctuary home where they can live with their own kind.  Learn More.....

The JILLY jellybug® website has launched!

JILLY jellybug® is on an amazing adventure to help her new lowland mountain gorilla friends, who have lost their home. The rainforest is shrinking! Magnificent and irreplaceable trees are being destroyed for wood. The gorillas need to find food for their family and JILLY and her friends know exactly where to find the best berries, the chewiest roots, and the ripest fruits! You can help spread the word about JILLY and the magical forest by wearing a JILLY jellybug creation!

A percentage of all JILLY jellybug sales goes towards rainforest and gorilla conservation.
Visit www.jillyjellybug.com 

Inspiring Eco-Friendly Jewelry

SAND, SEA, SUN™ & AUSTIN DESIGN™

... began as a result of a lifelong love affair with the beach.  I was fortunate to grow up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in the village of Cape Hatteras.  My summers were spent pretending to be a dolphin or a mermaid, and hunting the shoreline for treasures. As a little girl, I spent hours collecting driftwood, shells, sand, and suntans ~ but the best discovery of all was always a genuine piece of seaglass. I still have a few of the pictures and mirrors I would decorate on rainy days, carefully placing each shell, each pebble, each piece of glass.

Austin Design Jewelry originated in 1985 on the Island of Cape Hatteras, a small fishing village on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and on the island of St. Thomas in the the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today, we have our studio in the foothills of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. Our company is a group of artisans which create each and every piece by hand. We pride ourselves not only in our original designs but also in the quality and workmanship which goes into every piece. Our inspiration, of course, is our home island ~ into all the jewelry we blend the colors, elements and feel of the oc

Launch of iGorilla—the first iphone app dedicated to the Mountain Gorillas

iGorilla - the first application dedicated to protecting Mountain Gorillas - is now available from iTunes!

Go here to learn more and DOWNLOAD.

Go to www.gorillaap.com

Now the millions of iPhone and iTouch owners worldwide can download the app to follow the daily lives of the gorillas and stay up-to-date with the efforts of the Rangers to protect Mountain Gorillas and Virunga National Park. The app allows users to select a gorilla family, find out about their individual members and follow them through written reports and videos directly from Virunga National Park.

The app costs $3.99 to download from the iTunes App Store with 70 percent of the proceeds going directly to the field.

Virunga National Park

Five endangered chimpanzees and two monkeys, that were dehydrated, malnourished and kept in filthy conditions, have been seized by the Congolese Wildlife Authority in the city of Goma in eastern DR Congo and re-homed in two separate sanctuaries after 3 months of complex legal, political and logistical procedures. 

Please visit http://www.gorillacd.org to read more of this story and to donate to help them continue they work they do.