Trees In Trust
High-tech conservation is saving our
forest by giving it away - one piece at a time Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1st June 2007. A new
partnership between conservation groups and the latest web technology is aiming
to encourage many more people to invest in the future of our native forest.
Island Nature Trust and Trees In Trust have recently joined forces to launch a
web-based system on PEI which re-packages forest conservation as a gift,
memorial or carbon offset product.
With global warming, carbon offsets and personal environmental
responsibility in the news so much, the timing couldn't be better for a service
that takes forest conservation, packages it and makes it available to everyone
in such an attractive form. "Traditionally, land trusts have raised funds from
conservation minded individuals" says Andrew Lush, founder of Trees In Trust.
"What we are doing is providing the means for land trusts to raise funds from
many more sources". In exchange for a donation, Trees In Trust (www.treesintrust.com)
provides a mapped piece of forest and a dedication certificate, all instantly
via the web. "I spent $30 on a piece of woodland for my son's birthday" says
Frank MacEachern of Charlottetown. "Once he saw where it was on a map, he was
really intrigued". Your own piece of forest is then held in your name in
perpetuity. Trees In Trust is already in negotiations with the Nature Trust
of New Brunswick and trusts in three other provinces, and the service will be
available across Canada by the end of the year. The system allows land trusts
to acquire more endangered forest while also concentrating on what they do
best, rather than spending time on publicity, handling payments, printing maps
and certificates. Income tax receipts can even be printed on-line by the donor.
Land trusts, such as Island Nature Trust (www.islandnaturetrust.ca) , can
seamlessly incorporate the technology into their own websites for their own
fund-raising. # # # If you would like more information, please see the website at
www.treesintrust.com. Please call Andrew
Lush, founder of Trees In Trust, or Jackie Waddell, executive director of the
Island Nature Trust if you have any questions. Contacts: Andrew Lush, Trees In Trust (902) 388-1919 Jackie Waddell, Island Nature Trust (902) 892-7513
www.treesintrust.com