In This Issue
Sign Up
Links to Our Partners

Welcome to the June 2007 issue of EnviroBriefs, the electronic newsletter of Natural Partners. We are partnering with grassroots environmental organizations to help them develop stronger projects and connect with local businesses to promote the serious business of conservation and the sustainable use of local resources. Together, we strive to ensure a natural legacy for generations to come.

Five Projects Gain Momentum
by William Dent, Executive Director
I'm pleased to report on five exciting initiatives that have advanced rapidly in the past months. Four are centered in the Atlantic Rainforest, home to some of the planet's richest but most vulnerable biodiversity (ranked among the top 25 conservation "hotspots" worldwide). Less than 7% of the forest remains standing, and, of course, much less is in pristine condition.

The fifth initiative is a new one with WWF-Mexico. The proposed project will protect the small area of fir forest in the mountains west of Mexico City, where the Monarch Butterfly hibernates and breeds during the winter months.

We will soon be launching fundraising campaigns for these projects. Look for updates on our website. And we hope you will consider lending your support for these important projects and the extraordinary, endangered biomes they will protect. Thanks for caring--there are no second chances for the Atlantic Rain Forest and the Monarch habitat. The time to act is now!

NP Explores Monarch Butterfly Program
Monarch Butterfly
The Monarch Butterfly migrates each winter (November-March) to a few patches of mountain forest west of Mexico City, where it hibernates and breeds each winter before heading back north to the U.S. and southern Canada. Although some 56,000 hectares (about 220 sq. miles) are now officially protected as the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, illegal logging has continued, resulting in significant losses of the Monarch's winter habitat. Natural Partners is discussing a fundraising initiative with WWF-Mexico that would allow WWF to expand its work with local communities, including the hiring and training of local people as forest rangers and tour guides and the development of more orderly, lower-impact eco-tourism in the area.
Meet NP Treasurer Dirk Kloss
Dirk Kloss
Dirk Kloss, Director and Treasurer of Natural Partners since its founding in 2003, serves as an independent conservation advisor to the World Bank, U.N. organizations, aid agencies and NGOs on protected area management and sustainable conservation finance. After managing projects and living in India, China, and Central America, he worked in over 20 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

How did you get involved in environmental work?
Growing up in a small village at the edge of a forest suffering from acid rain and encroaching urban sprawl in Western Germany, I became active early on in environmental groups and journalism. I started traveling to tropical forests and mountains in my early 20s and, well, have never stopped.
What was one of the most significant events in your career?
It was my switch from being an environmental activist to a conservation practitioner. This happened when I arrived in India to manage a small grants program with rural NGOs for a few months - and ended up staying three years. I was fortunate that the success and charisma of these small community projects and people was almost instantly rewarding and got me hooked.
What strengths do you bring to Natural Partners?
Having successfully managed sustainable development and conservation projects for many years, I bring extensive practical experience to my work on the global level. It has given me the grounding on which I rely daily while designing, advising, and evaluating projects around the world for the past decade, and now as a Director of Natural Partners.
What is your vision for Natural Partners?
I see our organization as a vibrant joint venture between local communities, enterprises, and international expertise that brings together the people who manage and protect their irreplaceable natural environment with partners who are committed to safeguarding these locally and globally vital ecosystems.
Instituto Rã-Bugio: Brazil's Frog People
World's Smallest Toad
Natural Partners is currently working on a conservation project in Brazil with the Instituto Rã- Bugio, whose founders Elza and Germano Woehl created their non-profit to provide local children the opportunity to get to know the marvelous little frog and toads that are their neighbors and learn more about the local environment. Thanks to the Instituto's creative hands-on program with children, this vibrant couple has been featured on Brazil's most popular TV programs and made newspaper headlines and, in the process, creating broader public awareness of these little creatures and related water and habitat issues.

Through NP's joint project with Instituto Rã-Bugio, we hope to raise funds to buy some 2,000 acres of primary forest that is home to these and many other wild creatures. The project is urgently needed at a time when native forests are being cut down or burned to plant eucalyptus and other fast growing exotic trees for industrial use.

Recently, Elza and Germano discovered the world's tiniest toad (brachycephalus) in their home state, which, as the photo shows, is smaller than a human thumbnail.

Natural Partners is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the District of Columbia. The mission of Natural Partners is to assist grassroots environmental groups to mobilize the financial and human resources needed for them to acquire the rights to and manage strategic areas of the world's most threatened ecosystems.

Please Note: No trees were killed in the sending of this message; however, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.


phone: (202) 487-5343