This-Is-My-Earth.org

We are a group of environmentalists, scientists and leaders, from various countries and continents around the world. We have spent our lives working to protect nature and the environment on the planet. We are deeply concerned by the inability of existing actions and organizations to halt the sharp decline in global biodiversity. 

Our goal is to significantly broaden international participation in protecting lands located in the most precious biodiversity hot spots on earth.

How will we do it? 

We have launched an internet tool (TIME, This-Is-My-Earth.org) that will enable every person on this planet to personally participate in conservation action by purchasing land in biodiversity hot spots. This might sound familiar as there are many other organizations that are already involved with land purchasing. However, we offer several innovative concepts: 

• a low (only $1 minimum!) membership fee; 
• a right to vote on where the money will be invested, enabling each member to be part of a democratic conservation movement; 
• an assurance that 100% of membership money will actually be allocated for land purchasing (as opposed to personnel salaries or other expenses); and 
• an array of professional volunteers that will assist in directing the funds to where land conservation are most pressing. 
  

Most of the world’s hotspots are in poor countries. After TIME becomes established, we will offer members the opportunity to fund the membership of citizens from low-income countries.  Later, supporters will have the opportunity to provide isolated communities with the needed technological infrastructure, to assist them in joining this global venture. 

A prototype of our website is already on the air: 

http://This-Is-My-Earth.org

Your contribution will support the development of a full operative website. Once the website is fully developed, this non-profit organization will be run and maintained by volunteers, primarily from academia, whom are able to contribute their time to such a significant cause. 

We need your support!

We need $25,000 (USD) to build the website and infrastructure and to pay the salary of a web manager to maintain, build and promote the site during its first year of operation. At this point, we plan on pursuing two alternative routes: Continue on our own with volunteers or have a well-established international organization (such as a UN agency) support the website maintenance. 

Additional money raised in this campaign beyond our $25,000 (USD) target will go to land purchasing!

Every donor to this campaign will have his/her name on the site's founders page. Donators of $25 and more will receive a life-time membership in the organization. 

In case we do not reach our goal, your money will be refunded.

Let's save the world together

What is our biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge is to market this new initiative throughout the world. This is where we need you! You can spread the word among family members, friends and colleagues through mails and social media tools. Our association in local and international organizations will allow us to enlist the participation of schools, churches, civic groups, companies and institutions. We will encourage people everywhere to  make a modest recurrent commitment to this global effort to save the world’s most critical habitats.

Every contribution counts now, but mostly we need your help in spreading the word. Please tell your friends and family and please come join us on this journey to a better future. This Is My Earth: It's the only one we have!

Who are we? 

Dr. Uri Shanas is a professor of conservation biology at the University of Haifa - Oranim, currently a visiting researcher at the Portland State University in Oregon. Previously, he was the chair of the Department of Biology and Environment at the University of Haifa.

Ms. Wanjira Mathai has been directing International Affairs for more than a decade at the Green Belt Movement in Kenya which was founded by her mother, the late Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of both GBM and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies.

Dr. Konstantinos Makris is a faculty member at the Cyprus International Institute for Enironmental and Public Health and an adjunct assistant professor at Harvard University.  He specializes in environmental health and habitat protection.

Mr. David Baldock is the long-time Executive Director of the London and Brussels based “Institute for European Environmental Policy”.  He has been involved in researching and helping to draft European directives and policies in a range of environmental areas involving agriculture and the environment, biodiversity and climate change and natural resources.

Dr. Alon Tal is a professor of environmental policy from Ben Gurion University with past appointments at Harvard, Stanford and Otago universities.  For the past decade he has chaired the international conference in Drylands and Desertification in conjunction with the United Nations and Sede Boqer Campus.

Mr. Eyal Shani is a senior software and technology consultant and an entrepreneur. Currently working on a start-up in the field of Out of Home advertising. Previously founded a company developing innovative CMS solutions.  He has been awarded many prizes, including the Sofaer International Strategic Case Competition and Intel Honors Award.

Dr. Clive G Jones is an ecologist and Senior Scientist at the Cary
Institute of ecosystem studies in New York State. His research studies
ecosystem engineering by species, including how they create habitats for
other species and the consequences for biodiversity. He is an elected
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
recipient of a number of awards, and the author of 200 publications
including 6 books.

Dr. Nick M. Haddad is a William Neal Reynold Distinguished Professor at the Department of Biology in North Carolina State University. His studies focus on habitat loss and fragmentation ecological effects. Dr. Haddad has received the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow award.

Dr. Jian Wu is a Professor of Economics at Renmin University of China in Beijing. As one of China’s leading environmental economists, she serves as the board member of the East Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics (EAAERE).  Recently, Dr. Wu completed a sabbatical year as a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University’s Woods Environment Institute and Center for Conservation Biology where she pursued research regarding the Economics and Policy Analysis of Nature and Biodiversity Conservation.  In the past she has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Since 2012 Professor Wu has served as a team leader to establish methods and tools for evaluating genetic resources at China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

Dr. Bill Ripple is a distinguished professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University where he serves as the Director of the “Global Trophic Cascades Program”. Trophic cascades include nature’s domino effects such as how predators affect plants as mediated by prey (herbivores). His research also involves studying the status and ecological effects of megafauna (large carnivores & large herbivores) globally, especially in developing countries.