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This Is My Earth

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This is My Earth (TiME) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving biodiversity by using crowdsourcing to purchase lands in biodiversity hotspots.

TiME was established in 2015 by Prof. Uri Shanas[1] of the University of Haifa at Oranim, who continues to act as TiME's CEO. The organization is advised by an international team of scientists and environmental activists. TiME functions as a democracy in which every member, regardless of the amount of their donation, has an equal vote to determine which of the scientifically vetted conservation projects proposed each year is allocated the annual crowdfunded grant. The organization's goal is to preserve biodiversity hotspots and to curb the Sixth Extinction, which is mainly caused by human activity.[2]

History

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TiME was founded in 2015 by Professor Uri Shanas,[3] who was soon thereafter joined by Professor Alon Tal of Tel Aviv University to co-lead the organization. Both are noted scholars and environmental activists. TiME capitalized on the rise in popularity of crowdfunding and the increasing internet access worldwide to found an organization in which even small donors can take an active role to protect biodiversity. TiME raised US$35,515 on Indiegogo by August 13, 2015; 819 people from over 40 countries donated.[4] This initial seed money was used to establish a basic organizational infrastructure, register as a non-profit, expand the Scientific Advisory Committee,[5] set up an active Facebook page, and build a website.[6] In its first year, TiME had over one thousand members.

Over its first seven years, with the support of its generous members, This is My Earth successfully purchased eight plots of land in biodiversity hotspots for conservation. Its first land purchase, in 2016, was in the El Toro forest, Peru, which lies at the heart of the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot.[7][8]

TiME transferred it to Mr. Isidoro Lozano, a community member of Yambrasbamba Campesino Community in La Esperanza, who works in conjunction with the local Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Peru[9] to protect the land. The El Toro forest campaign, designed to purchase land in the Peruvian Amazon to protect the habitat of the Critically Endangered Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), managed to raise US$30,000.

In 2017, TiME bought land to expand the Sun Angel's Gardens reserve in Peru. The reserve's biodiversity, including the Near Threatened Royal Sunangel hummingbird (Heliangelus regalis)[10] and the Endangered White-bellied Spider Monkey (Ateles belzebuth),[11] was particularly vulnerable to illegal loggers, hunters and squatters because of its horseshoe shape. TiME's purchase of 700 hectares for US$17,000 inside the U-shape of the reserve was transferred to the local indigenous community of La Primavera and the local NGO, Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Peru,[12] to ensure the conservation of the land.

TiME's purchase of a 5-acre plot in Turneffe Atoll, Belize, in 2018 protected part of a global ecological hotspot for marine biodiversity. Turneffe Atoll faces numerous threats because of its close proximity to Belize City, especially unsustainable fishing practices, development and dredging, and the extraction of non-timber products. Some of the threatened species now protected in this habitat are the Critically Endangered Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate)[13] and the Vulnerable Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara).[14] TiME's local partner to protect this area is Turneffe Atoll Trust.[15]

The threatened Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot in Colombia was the site of TiME's 2019 land purchase.[16] The 58-hectare plot of land bought for US$70,000, expanded the El Silencio reserve, managed by TiME's local partner, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia.[17] An expanded reserve offers more habitat to protect threatened species, like the Critically Endangered Blue-billed Curassow (Crax alberti)[18] and the Critically Endangered Brown Spider Monkey (Ateles hybridus),[19] and increases the reserve's financial sustainability by making it more attractive to tourists and researchers.

2020 was a milestone for This is My Earth because it raised sufficient funds (nearly US$200,000) to purchase two plots of land in two vastly different biodiversity hotspots.[20][21] TiME's 300-acre purchase in the Dakatcha Woodland of Kenya, in the East African Coastal Forests hotspot, protected — among other threatened species — the Endangered Clarke's Weaver (Ploceus golandi),[22] which nests only in this particular area of the world. TiME's local partner for this project is Nature Kenya—the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS).[23] TiME also purchased 84 acres in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, allowing its local partner, Instituto Uiraçu,[24] to expand the Serra Bonita Reserve. Among the threatened species now protected in Serra Bonita are the Critically Endangered Buff-headed Capuchin (Sapajus xanthosternos)[25] and the Critically Endangered Banded Cotinga (Cotinga maculata),[26] as well as predators that require larger territories, like the Puma (Puma concolor) and the Vulnerable Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja).[27]

In 2021, TiME protected land in the iconic Maasai Mara ecosystem, which has the highest density of wildlife in Kenya, purchasing 20 acres in partnership with the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya.[28] The acquisition of this land creates a migratory corridor and habitat for wildlife, including the Critically Endangered Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicorn)[29] and the Endangered Masai Giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi).[30]

The Chocó Forest in Ecuador is the site of This is My Earth's eighth land purchase in 2022. Partnering with Fundación Jocotoco,[31] TiME purchased 65 hectares of rainforest, helping to protect the Critically Endangered Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus)[32] and the Endangered Brown-headed Spider Monkey (Ateles fusciceps),[33] among other threatened species.

List of success stories

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Funding

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TiME raises funds on two different platforms for two purposes:

Crowdfunding

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TiME uses crowdfunding to buy land for conservation. All funds raised through its website goes towards a land purchase and long-term conservation. Funds are allocated based on an annual voting system, in which every donor receives one vote to cast for their preferred conservation project.

Grant funding

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Grants are used to offset institutional costs, such as professional communications via social media and newsletters. TiME collects grants from agencies and institutional donors, not from crowdfunding.

Procedure for land purchase

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TiME allocates its funds democratically, according to which of the scientifically vetted conservation projects in different biodiversity hotspots receives the most votes by TiME members. If, by December, the board determines that none of the projects is likely to reach its minimum goal, it may decide to pool all funds donated that year to support a single project, if that sum will allow one project to achieve its goal. Projects that are selected again for the subsequent annual campaign may or may not carry with them the previous year’s allocated donations, depending on the Board's decision.

Projects

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Projects, or plots of land to be purchased and protected, may be suggested to TiME by any organization worldwide. TiME's Scientific Advisory Committee evaluates proposed projects, approves those best able to protect species and habitats, and determines the minimum necessary funds needed to realize the project. The project is then posted on TiME's website and has one calendar year (January 1 to December 31) to garner as many votes as possible. If a project does not attract enough support to receive the minimum funds from TiME (see Voting below), it may be resubmitted for consideration in the subsequent year by either the Scientific Advisory Committee or the organization that initially proposed it. A project that is resubmitted must be reapproved by the Scientific Advisory Committee. Once reapproved, the votes are reset as if it had just been submitted for the first time unless the Board of Directors decides to extend the voting period.

Voting

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Each member receives one vote per year. To become a member for a given calendar year, a donation of at least one US dollar must be made through TiME's website. Once a donation has been made, the member is given a vote to choose their preferred project. Memberships for a group of people, such as a family or class, may be purchased through one donation, the number of votes being contingent on the size of the group and the amount donated.

On December 31 votes are tallied. Each project is given a portion of that year's donation equivalent to the percentage of votes it received. A project will receive its allotment of TiME donations only if the total exceeds the minimum necessary funds determined at the outset. If a project does not obtain enough votes to reach the minimum, the project is given an additional four months to match TiME's funds with an external funding source. If the project is unable to raise the necessary funds in the given timeframe, the money it would have received from TiME rolls over into the subsequent year's total fund allocation.

When a project achieves its fundraising goal, TiME works with the local conservation organization that proposed the conservation project to purchase the land, ensuring that the deed remains in local/Indigenous hands and that the natural habitat is protected.

TiME signs a legal agreement that will ensure the protection of the land, for at least 100 years. Once the land is purchased, TiME regularly receives updates from its local conservation partner.

Governance

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TiME is led by an international team of scientists and environmental leaders representing every continent, all working to save biodiversity through the conservation of critical habitats around the world.

Scientific advisory committee

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Dr. Dianne Brunton

Dr. Gerardo Ceballos

Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich

Dr. Nick Haddad

Dr. David Mutekanga

Dr. Simone Oigman-Pszczol

Dr. William (Bill) Ripple

Dr. Uri Shanas

Dr. Jian Wu

Board of directors

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Mr. Guy Milhalter[34]

Mr. David Baldock

Dr. Dror Ben-Ami

Ms. Hadas Dabas

Mr. Darrell Erb Jr.

Dr. Deborah Goldberg

Dr. Clive G. Jones

Ms. Josephine Kishapoi

Dr. Konstantinos C. Makris

Ms. Wanjira Mathai

Mr. Tom Murtha

Ms. Kirsten Oates

Dr. Uri Shanas

Ms. Ondine Sherman

Mr. Jack Platt

Ms. Tauni Sauvage

References

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  1. ^ "Prof. Uri Shanas," Biology and Environment — Oranim campus, University of Haifa.
  2. ^ William J. Ripple et al., "World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” Bioscience, vol. 67, no. 12 (December 2017).
  3. ^ David Shamah, "Group aims to save planet by purchasing small but significant part of it," Times of Israel, Aug. 9, 2015
  4. ^ "This is My Earth,” Indigogo.
  5. ^ "Our Scientific Advisory Committee,” This is My Earth.
  6. ^ This is My Earth.
  7. ^ Viva Sarah Press, "Conservationists Buy Land in Peru to Save Endangered Species,” Israel21c, Jan. 31, 2017.
  8. ^ Einat Paz-Frankel, “No Time to Monkey Around: Israeli Group Saves Endangered Peruvian Ape,” NoCamels, Jan. 2, 2017.
  9. ^ "NPC Peru," Neotropical Primate Conservation.
  10. ^ "Royal Sunangel,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  11. ^ "White-bellied Spider Monkey,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  12. ^ “NPC Peru,” Neotropical Primate Conservation.
  13. ^ "Hawksbill Turtle,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  14. ^ "Atlantic Goliath Grouper,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  15. ^ Turneffe Atoll Trust.
  16. ^ Nir Hasson, "Meet the Israeli Buying Land Across the Globe to Keep It Green, Haaretz, Jan. 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Fundación Biodiversa Colombia.
  18. ^ "Blue-billed Curassow,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  19. ^ “Brown Spider Monkey,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  20. ^ Abigail Klein Leichman, "This is My Earth to Buy, Protect Areas of Kenya and Brazil,” Israel21c, Jan. 13, 2021.
  21. ^ "TiME (Israel) Will Buy Two Parcels of Land, Home to Endangered Species, in Kenya and Brazil and Turn Them into Protected Areas,” Israel Science Info, Jan. 9, 2021.
  22. ^ “Clarke’s Weaver,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  23. ^ Nature Kenya—East Africa Natural History Society.
  24. ^ Instituto Uiraçu.
  25. ^ "Buff-headed Capuchin,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  26. ^ “Banded Cotinga,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  27. ^ “Harpy Eagle,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  28. ^ Wildlife Clubs of Kenya
  29. ^ "Black Rhino,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  30. ^ “Masai Giraffe,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  31. ^ Fundación Jocotoco
  32. ^ "Great Green Macaw,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  33. ^ "Brown-headed Spider Monkey,” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  34. ^ "Read about Pearl Cohen’s Pro Bono Counsel to This is My Earth (TiME),” Pearl Cohen, Jan. 23, 2020.
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