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environment

 

We plant trees for you and for our world - TH!NK ABOUT IT

We are the first generation that has the knowledge and means to collaborate globally to solve poverty while ensuring respect for the environment and the dignity for the people. Web is the ideal tool to cooperate together and solve the crises that the world is facing today.

During eight weeks, supporters of NGO Vakanala have conffirmed the power of social networks and its effectiveness in the fight against climate change, proving the importance of individual action and how individual actions when multiplied can make a difference to the planet.

On behalf of the local community, my team (Vakanala)  would like to thank all its fans for their support during the tournament "Humanity Calls". Indeed, the local community of Manambolo through the NGO Vakanala received 1,098 votes at the friendly competition for the environment sponsored by Ebay Green Team. Thank you very much!

This result gives us the 10th place
out of 145 participating non profit and has raised U.S. $ 2,351.73 equivalent to more than 5 million Malagasy Ariary.

That was possible with the great support of my fellow TED fellow, Tin Ho Chow and his team at Big New Ideas who worked on the design of Humanity Calls, a social giving platform that helps raise funds for nonprofits through an online tournament.

As we are pioneering the system of "Fundraising/voting" competition in Madagascar, we are also thankful for the advise and personal donation from my fellow TED fellows Darius Weems and Logan Smalley. Logan took time to share with me his experience and tips from DGW ( Darius Goes West). Their experience on "fundraising 2.0" helped us so much.

Photo: TED Fellow Darius Weems and Me at TED 2009

Thanks to all of you, more than 1,800 trees will be planted in the south part of Madagascar, for a total target of 10,000 trees for the year 2010. The use of these funds will be communicated transparently on Vakanala website. The first trees will be planted arround September, when the first rain drops.

Today I am thrilled to announce that Vakanala have been chosen to participate in the GlobalGiving  Green Open Challenge for July 2010.

 

Global Giving Green

Between July 5 to July 30, 2010, Vakanala will be working to raise a minimum of $4,000 from at least 50 donors to fund a plant nursery, which will guarantees the sustainability of our reforestation project in Manambolo. Check out our project design: http://goto.gg/5824

This amount will ensure a permanent spot on GlobalGiving’s website, which would allow us the opportunity to grow greatly and expand as an organization.

With all the economic sanctions that our country "Madagascar" is facing, especially from European Union, from African union and from US , plus the economic recession, we have planned to succeed our project with "crowd funding" approaches and mobilize resources outside institutions. We have also worked on the scales and will work from  small but sustainable developement project at the time.

How Can you help ?

We know that you can introduce us to a program or people that helps/ fund startup organisations or simply donate to us via our Global Giving web page.Your help is very much needed ... and will be appraeciated greatly. In addition the project that gets most support or from the most donors will win up to $ 10 000, so every donation counts! And I am counting on you all!

What is GlobalGiving?

The website Global Giving allows philanthropists to establish a direct contact with organizations in developing countries to effectively participate in their activities either through donations and / or expertise.

GlobalGiving is an organization that helps organizations like Vakanala to mobilize supports for their work in communities worldwide by offering a Web page and online tools to help them raise funds online.

About NGO VAKANALA

"Vakanala" means " Pearls of Forest" in Malagasy language.

Vakanala, is a nonprofit organization based in Antananarivo that has set a goal to preserve the many little fragments of primary forests of Madagascar with sustainable reforestation.

These fragments, the last remnants of natural forests which covered the Island before our era, are of paramount importance : it is first real sanctuary for the unique biodiversity of Madagascar, which is it last refuge, but it is also a natural resource vital to the survival of rural communities to which they provide many services, natural raw materials, natural storage of rainwater, soil fertility, fight against desertification, and many others.

Follow Vakanala on twitter @vakanala, join Vakanala Facebook Group or contact us by email. Thank you all for your continued support.

Filed under  //   Andriankoto   Environmental Concerns   Environmental Justice   Humanitycalls   Madagascar   TED 2009 Fellow   World Environment Action   World Environment Organization   crowdfunding   environment   think3   vakan'ala  

It's Christmas, offer a tree to our Planet

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It’s been almost a year since Madagascar was turned upside down by political turmoil. Please, forget the kids' movies  with crazy penguins and lions for a minute, the situation is particularly worrying in here.

Presently Madagascar is  sitting without any legitimate government and on the verge of anargie !!! This is the Africa that we are trying to change.Criminal politicians and Criminal gangs are stripping our poorly-protected country and it's peoples.

According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, 'Timber traders in Madagascar have effectively bought the right to pillage the country's protected forest area with impunity. They are extracting up to $800 000 a day worth of timber,' said Reiner Tegtmeyer of Global Witness. Some reports announce a figure of $460 000 a day.

In the other side, farmers reaction is immediate: loggin but also Slash and burn agriculture ...

To get an idea of the phenomenon, my friends and I developed a system based on Google Earth 3D map plug-in, which lets you see the fire overnight. Fires are detected by NASA satellite, so it's fairly accurate.

What we can do is to replant the trees and restart again and again ... with more attention on the human need (reforestation for food, reforestation for energy ...)

I want to share a small organisation that we have started named VAKANALA (NPO). Vakanala aim to act for nature and contribute on the reforestation and the conservation of the planet .

Earth's Christmas is one of the vakanala project.

Earth's Christmas

The idea is simple: When you buy your Christmas tree, please consider Madagascar. with a small contribution of $1,  we plant a tree for you and you are offering a tree to the world.

May be a "classic idea" for you but IMPORTANT for the planet.

The tree (for this project) will be planted in the south-west Madagascar; to restore the cleared space between forest fragments of virgin forest still exists.

Halting forest degradation and forest restoration are on the agenda in Copenhagen. We also need to protect our intact ecosystems, which is by far the least expensive of all the solutions  for climate change.

Bellow is the design of the project (fr)

Our ultimate goal is to preserve the most valuable ecosystem in the world and what they contain, restore missing forest tree species endemic to the region, and also restore ecologically (through the trees that produce organic fertilizer ) specific areas included in the future complex forest for agriculture.

We have created earthschristmas.org  to receive the beautiful gift you will give to our planet. Please also look at our Earth's Christmas Facebook Application to Get trees planted in honors of your Facebook friends. On this application, a Google Maps can show you where the trees will be planted and we will us this technology to monitor your gift as the trees grow.

We have a few hands and we can plant trees for all "flying" TED conferences Attendees and all Technology Entertainment and Design lovers who mind their CO2 footprint.

Contact us through our email: contact@vakanala.org

Visit our web sites (fr) www.vakanala.org | www.earthschristmas.org | http://apps.facebook.com/earthschristmas/ |www.fire.vakanala.org

Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/vakanala

 

We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)

Photo courtesy: TED 2009 Fellow Andriankoto Ratozamanana - Reforestation Activist | anti-deforestation crusader | Madagascar

Filed under  //   Africa   Andriankoto   Madagascar   TED 2009 Fellow   cop15   environment   green   reforesation  

TED fellow hosted by Majora Carter @ ECO HEROES - Sundance Channel - Digital short

Former blogger Andriankoto Ratozamanana decided he needed to do more than type to improve the standard of living and reforest in Madagascar. He cofounded MEGASEEDS Inc, which contributes to harnessing natural resources of the planet and ameliorating exploited habitats.

Free | www.sundancechannel.com">Sundance Channel Length : 01:33 Posted : 5/1/2009

Majora Carter is the host of Sundance Channel’s Eco-Heroes, she is  an American environmental advocate and artist. She is president of The Majora Carter Group, LLC, a green collar economic consulting firm. She is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, one of Newsweek’s “25 To Watch,” and one of Essence Magazine’s “25 most Influential African Americans.” Majora serves on the boards of Ceres, SJF, and the Wilderness Society.

Majora Carter is also as good as Steve Jobs when she speaks. She gave this compelling talk at the TED 2006 Conference, aptly titled “Majora’s tale of urban renewal” - by greening the ghetto, one of my favorite TEDtalk. She detailed her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx - and showed how minority neighborhood suffer most from flawed urban policy.

Since 2007 Majora Carter has appeared on The Green, a television segment dedicated to the environment, shown on the Sundance Channel.The first season consisted of a series of 90 second op-eds shot in studio. The second season consisted of a series of short interview pieces with people who are taking uncommon approaches to environmental problems.

I had chance to appear on Majora's TV show as guest . She is loads of inspiration for me to reach out and teach others about the value of our unique Environment. 

I still have a long way to go before I can attain my dream but I am already thankful to  TED for enlighten me and connecting me with wonderful people.

 

 

Filed under  //   Agribusiness   Andriankoto   EcoHero Sundance Channel   Environmental Concerns   Environmental Justice   Madagascar   Majora carter   Ratozamanana   TED 2009 Long Beach   TED Fellow   Tedtalk   environment   megaseeds   ted2009