Donor’s Corner
CREE is honored to receive support from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. The Fund was established on Earth Day as a global awards program for the study and protection of the world’s wildlife and ecosystems. CREE has been continually impressed with Disney’s pragmatic approach to wildlife conservation, recognizing threats include habitat destruction, conflicts with animals and people, and issues of space for development. Disney has made clear to CREE their focus on under-represented species through their funding of our Cameroon project, focused on snail farming and invertebrate conservation. With this money CREE will work with local people to implement snail farming as an alternative protein and income source for communities to curb bush-meat consumption in areas adjacent to Mount Cameroon National Park, Cameroon. This project ensures Disney’s support will reach local partners and engage them through education, outreach, and micro-enterprise training. Our focus on economic realities facing communities in Cameroon ensures a more equitable and sustainable future for those seeking to make a living from natural resources adjacent to the National Park. After much success on a pilot project last year, CREE’s focus will now center around helping women’s cooperative groups snail farm in their communities. This project will alleviate poverty, supplement nutrition, and reduce pressure on park wildlife.
CREE is thankful for to the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ocean Fund for its support of our Philippines marine conservation work. With this funding, CREE will host participatory workshops to raise awareness on marine wildlife in the Bohol and Babuyan Islands, demarcate marine protected areas with community and government input, and begin steps on planning what sustainable marine tourism will mean for communities and the region’s delicate resources. This biodiversity includes dolphins, whale sharks, and sea turtles. With face-to-face meetings, participatory planning sessions, the use of social media and the development of an interactive web-portal, CREE hopes to bring a shared pride and passion for a sustainable future in multiple Filipino coastal communities which spans generations.
- OPCFHK
CREE is pleased to announce an exciting new collaboration on our Philippines project through a grant from the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK). Through OPCFHK’s generosity, CREE will be able to continue monitoring the status and distribution of humpback whales and other cetaceans in the Babuyan Islands, estimate the abundance and site fidelity of the whale population, and monitor and provide measures to mitigate threats to it. CREE sees the intensification of these biological analyses as key to a solid foundation of our sustainable eco-tourism project planning. This work will be coupled with implementing a conservation action plan for responsible whale watching and ecotourism with communities. CREE applaudes OPCFHK’s commitment to the long-term viability of Babuyan’s biodiversity, as well as its active interest in the welfare of the communities in Babuyan so intimately linked to its marine resources. We look forward to further work in the future between our two organizations.
Gorilla Works
Congratulations to our first donors to reach the status of Founders! Thanks to the kind generosity of Matt Gifford and Cate Stewart-Gifford of Gorilla Works, who donated their time and talent to giving CREE an online presence, CREE’s marketability is now on par with the best organizations out there. Matt and Cate did all of this from their office near London, working 20 hour days until the wee hours of the morning, proving that their expertise and dedication to worthy causes is truly global in reach. CREE is forever indebted to them for their hard work and efforts. We also highly recommend Gorilla Works to anyone looking to improve their online presence.
Defenders of Wildlife
Many thanks to the California Office of Defenders of Wildlife, who provided funds towards the purchase of a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to aid in the mapping of human-carnivore conflict for CREE’s Tanzania project. With this gift, local staff will be trained in the use of GPS technology and geo-spatial data of lion conflicts will be more robustly represented in the hopes of reducing future human-lion conflict. Long a pioneer in human-wildlife conflict resolution, Defenders established the Bailey’s Carnivore Conservation Fund to compensate ranchers for cattle lost to wolf attacks and has also faciliated innovate strategies to reduce wolf attacks before they occur.
Victoria Vox
Victoria Vox is an acclaimed ukelele player originally from Wisconsin who has spent years touring the world and bringing her one of a kind folk sound to stages from Europe to Washington, DC. Her popularity and unique style has earned her 125+ performances per year and an appearance on the Jay Leno show. Victoria is also passionate about environmental conservation issues, particularly sustainable agriculture. This is why she decided to donate to CREE via 1% for the Planet, a global movement of over 1200 companies that donate 1% of their sales profits to environmental organizations. CREE is a big fan of Victoria’s music, and is honored to be selected as her charity for 2010. More information on her music can be found at: www.victoriavox.com
David Tomb
David Tomb, an acclaimed and talented artist, hails from San Francisco, California. David’s diverse works range from realistic representations of nature to oil-based canvas (www.davidtomb.com). David loves to use his artistic talents for the benefit of wildlife conservation and sustainable development. Recently, David agreed to donate profits from the sale of his bird works to a local Chiapas based non-profit conservation organization in Mexico. David has kindly extended a similar offer on some of his works for CREE. When asked to explain his generosity, David recalled that “The diversity of projects hosted by CREE greatly inspires me. Here is an organization that spans the globe, yet keeps its projects local and culturally appropriate. I am excited to help such an organization.”
Robyé Kumar
Robyé Kumar is a Relationship Manager at Tri Counties Bank in Sacramento, California. Through his generosity, CREE has been able to purchase a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to equip our Kenya project with a much needed tool to map out sensitive biological resources and aid in eco-tourism development. When asked about why he donated to CREE, Robye stated, “CREE is an on the ground organization where you can see tangible benefits at the project level. As a banker, I love the accountability that CREE offers the donor with his donation. With a small amount, I can still see a real impact.”