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Alcoa Foundation and The Nature Conservancy Partner to Save Five High-Risk Forests

ARLINGTON, VA — April 3, 2002 — The Nature Conservancy today announced that Alcoa Foundation has provided a grant of $500,000 over three years to help protect five critical forest systems around the world.

The five forests are the mangrove forests of Brazil’s Amazon basin, Meili Snow Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province, the Blue River watershed in Indiana, Mexico’s Ajos-Bavispe National Forest and government-owned forests of Pennsylvania.  Through a scientific and systematic process called ecoregional planning, The Nature Conservancy identified these five forests as critical to the ecological health of the five environmentally sensitive areas.

The grant will fund a range of activities undertaken by The Nature Conservancy and its local partners to protect forest ecology while ensuring that the development needs of local communities are met.  Alcoa Foundation’s grant will support ecoregional planning and community involvement, public education and outreach, land acquisition and stewardship of the sites.

“By supporting conservation-related organizations like The Nature Conservancy, and programs that address crucial environmental challenges, Alcoa Foundation reinforces our commitment to conservation and sustainability.  These grants also complement Alcoa’s goals of being a fully sustainable enterprise that makes the world a better place because of our activities,” said Kathleen W. Buechel,  President and Treasurer of Alcoa Foundation.

“The Conservancy and  Alcoa Foundation share a strong desire to make sure our conservation efforts improve the quality of life for the local communities involved,” said Nigel Homer, acting director of Corporate Partnerships for the Conservancy. “Alcoa Foundation’s support of these programs will help ensure that these communities will enjoy the benefits of majestic and diverse forest systems for many years to come.”

In Brazil, the Conservancy is helping state environmental agencies and non-governmental organizations draw up and implement site conservation management plants.  The grant from Alcoa Foundation will support the efforts of state environmental agencies to provide conservation training to the managers of all protected areas along the Amazon River from Maranhão to Amapá. The proximity of these areas to two large cities means that it is much more threatened than the more famous upland Amazonian rainforests.  Only 14 percent of the latter have been deforested, but well over 50 percent of Maranhão’s mangrove forests have been cleared in the last 30 years.

Meili Snow Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province is home to many rare and endangered mammals as well as a number of plants and herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.  Wood is the main fuel for cooking and heating.  The collection of wood threatens local forests and is a hardship to local women who bear the heavy burden of wood gathering.  The Conservancy and the Yunnan Provincial Government are working on a project to cut the household consumption of fuel wood by 75 percent in the next ten years by developing a range of alternative energy initiatives, such as micro-hydro, fuel-efficient stoves, passive solar and biogas.  Alcoa Foundation is supporting the installation of 250 biogas stoves in villages around the area to provide an alternative to wood-burning units.

In the Blue River watershed of southern Indiana, Alcoa Foundation is supporting the launch of the Forest Bank, a market-oriented approach to encouraging private landowners to harvest their timber using ecologically sound practices.  Landowners who “deposit” their timber rights in the bank will receive an annual dividend worth 4 percent of the timber value plus access to the cash value of the timber should there be a family need.  The Conservancy has 40 acres “on deposit” in Indiana’s Forest Bank.  The grant  from Alcoa Foundation will increase the capital and allow the Forest Bank to accept new deposits of land.

Mexico’s Ajos-Bavispe National Forest and Wildlife Refuge is one of the oldest protected areas in the Mexican state of Sonora. The thriving pine-oak forests provide habitat for endangered species like the American black bear, jaguar, spotted owl and nearly 400 bird species. Its forests protect the watershed for three rivers that provide fresh water and hydroelectric power for numerous farmers and communities in the region. With Alcoa Foundation’s support, the Conservancy and a local partner are working with private landowners to protect critical biological corridors that link isolated mountain-top protected areas.

In Pennsylvania, Alcoa Foundation is supporting the Conservancy’s work to develop conservation plans and strategies for protecting core forest areas and encouraging sustainable timber management practices on government-owned sites.  An important locale for recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, camping and hiking, state and federally owned forests in Pennsylvania contribute clean water to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.