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The Nature Conservancy works with the Earth Foundation to provide educators and students the opportunity to be directly involved in the protection of rain forest areas through a structured fundraising and rain forest curriculum program.
Over the past decade, we have worked together to raise environmental awareness and funds for the protection of rain forests. Over this period, Earth Foundation has donated over $10 million for rain forest conservation projects. This support has enabled the Conservancy and its local partners to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of rain forest through the Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre® program.
The Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre® program uses funds to purchase and protect rain forest areas through our local partners. Protection activities include on the ground management such as training park rangers; developing environmental education programs; and developing environmentally sound uses for these areas.
About Earth Foundation
Earth Foundation got its start in 1990 with an Earth Day invitation to present a slide show at a local Houston school. At that time, the goal was to educate the children and teach them how to make a difference in their world.
As more and more schools extended invitations for the Rainforest Slide Presentation, it was clear that the project was becoming a rapid success. However, the students persisted with the question, "What can we do?" With that in mind, Earth Foundation began selling Rainforest Crunch Cookies in 1992, and T-shirts in 1993, donating proceeds from the sale of these items to benefit the rain forest through the acquisition of land for conservation. Earth Foundation donates $3.50 from the sale of each T-shirt to The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre® program, totaling approximately $1 million each year to help purchase and protect rain forests around the world.
With the huge success the program has enjoyed since then, Earth Foundation has turned the slide show into a full-length live action video able to be viewed more easily. To accompany with the video, a full multi-disciplinary, hands-on, solution-based curriculum has been added. With history, English, science, social studies, art and math, students are empowered to make a difference in their lives.
From that first Houston school the Earth Foundation network has grown to include more than 10,000 schools nationwide and in every educational sector. With teacher and student incentives such as the 100 Acre Glass Trophy, 50 Acre Banner and National Recognition on the 20 Acre Club Poster, our average school was able to increase the number of acres saved from 1-2 by holding bake sales and coin collections to 10 acres through the sale of our T-shirts!
To learn more about Earth Foundation, visit the Earth foundation web site
The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Sergio Pucci (Piedras Blancas National Park); Photo © Sergio Pucci(toucan).
