Save the Redwoods League – for the protection of nature to promote peace and beauty
by Denise Nanni, ProMosaik. In the following my interview with Mike of the Save the Redwoods League, protecting redwood forests to promote peace and beauty for the people.
| Flowers in bloom at Shady Dell. Photo by Mike Shoys |
Please introduce your organization and its aims.
Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization that has protected and restored redwood forests and connected people with their peace and beauty so these wonders of the natural world flourish. Donations to the organization help us purchase redwood land, restore logged forests, study how to best protect them and teach children and adults about these magical expressions of life.
What are today the main threats to the redwood forests?
The threats to the redwoods are increasingly complex, no longer embodied by the axe and saw of logging. Some of the greatest threats to redwoods today include climate change, human land uses not compatible with forest health (e.g. development, conversion to vineyards); and people’s increasing detachment from the natural world.
What are the strategies that you use in order to protect these areas?
Our Master Plan for the Redwoods guides our efforts to protect and restore redwood forests. This science-based plan identifies areas to focus our activities upon, and enables us to efficiently evaluate and respond to conservation opportunities as they arise. We evaluate properties according to 16 criteria in the Master Plan, including:
- whether ancient forest is present
- habitat for, or presence of, threatened or endangered species
- potential for public access and recreation
- the risk of commercial and residential development
- water sources (i.e. presence of springs or streams)
In what ways do you raise awareness of redwood forests and how civil society has been responsive so far?
Save the Redwoods League wouldn’t be able to do what we do to protect the redwoods without ongoing awareness raising and support from the public. We communicate broadly via a free monthly enewsletter called Redwood Matters to help people stay informed all things redwoods, including fun facts, events, photos and more. We also raise awareness on our social media online communities. We get a lot of positive response. We have thousands of individual donors, and our Facebook following is currently our largest with over 23,000 fans!
We also have a significant Educational Program to engage the next generation with helping to save the magical redwood forests. Our educational goals are to:
· raise awareness of redwood forests, research and conservation
· provide engaging, firsthand experiences in redwood forests for people of all ages
· become a leading resource in redwood education and interpretation
· empower youth to take action to protect redwood forests
Save the Redwoods League grants funds to schools, park associations and other qualified nonprofits that provide redwood education. A new program, Redwoods and Climate Change High School Program, aims to bring urban, underserved youths from the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay cities into the redwood forests to conduct scientific research.
We also have free educational materials available online in ourRedwoods Learning Center.
Do you cooperate with local authorities and institutions? If yes, how?
The League transfers land to California State Parks, National Park Service,US Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service and county and local park systems, which are permanent land stewards. We often partner with nonprofits operating at the national, state and local levels. And we work with leading redwood forest scientists at many universities including the University of California, Berkeley, and Humboldt State University.
You can see answers to more frequently asked questions about redwoods and Save the Redwoods League on our website, and I encourage everyone to please join us in helping to save the redwoods!
https://promosaik.blogspot.com.tr/2017/03/save-redwoods-league-for-protection-of.html
