[Coral-List] BioClout
Jim Hendee
Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov
Fri Mar 17 08:31:44 EST 2006
Referring back to the previous discussions on Resiliency, etc., and Phil
Dustan's plea for 8 to 10 salient points of discussion/attack, and
further comments that a strong group or person should organize to make
their case known to the Great Decision Makers (of various colors and
ilk), I thought it interesting to identify one apparently powerful group
that may prove instructive in its approach. I'm not specifically
endorsing this group (Natural Resources Defense Council), I'm just
pointing out that the approach seems to have proven effective to their
cause, in case you want to study it. Similar efforts are of course
undertaken by other conservation-oriented groups, such as The Nature
Conservancy, Audubon Society, Conservation International, etc., whom I
also do not specifically endorse (but they're doing a great job!), and I
would encourage them to speak up if they feel so inclined. Just trying
to focus here, folks: I am NOT petitioning to lobby, just trying to
help steer coral conservation FACTS towards decision makers, who may not
necessarily be governmental. If an effort was made to concentrate on
ONE particular reef area to fight for (e.g., a "BioGem" of sorts [see
below]), it might make focusing efforts a little more effective if
coral-listers approached one of the groups that has large experience on
the front lines. With success there, the 8-10 points gets more exposure
as a general theme of problems worldwide, then the torch is carried
forth by the millions more who know, and the next endangered area is
identified, etc. [By the way, I appreciate Mike Risk's tenuous
nomination of me to carry the flag, but it should be obvious that in my
capacity as a government employee, I can't do that. Besides, I'm not
sexy... :) ]
From their NRDC-related Web page at www.biogems.org:
BIOGEMS DEFENDERS HIT NEW MILESTONE
Rallying to protect endangered wildlands from the Arctic to the southern
tip of Chile, BioGems Defenders have sent more than 7 million messages
since the launch of the NRDC BioGems Initiative in 2001. In the past
eight months alone, BioGems Defenders sent more than a million messages
-- helping to block massive oil development in the Arctic Refuge, as
well as to secure permanent protection for the rainforest home of the
rare white Spirit Bear and to ensure a future for the highly endangered
vaquita marina, a small porpoise found only in Mexico's Upper Gulf of
California.
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