| Half a Million Swiss Francs for Tropical Forests | The “Art for Tropical Forest Foundation” supports five different projects with a total of CHF 520,000 to protect Asian, South-American, and African tropical forests. In the first year of its existence, the Foundation mainly generated the necessary financial means by admissions to the Fondation Beyeler museum and from sales of renowned works of art at international auctions. | ||
| A single year after its foundation by Basel museum founder Ernst Beyeler, the Art for Tropical Forests Foundation can look back on and supports numerous activities to protect tropical forests. From among a total of eleven verified nature-conservation projects, experts on the Board of Trustees selected five projects that guarantee a sustainable protection of intact eco-systems in or on the fringe of South-American, Asian, and African tropical forests. These financially supported projects are supervised on site by established nature-conservation organizations in collaboration with the local population. WWF, for instance, promotes and encourages the enforcing of officially approved nature reserves in the Bolivian Pantanal, while Greenpeace fights the illegal felling of trees in the Amazon basin with surveillance flights, and the Bruno Manser Fund helps nomadic peoples in Sarawak (Malaysia) to map their regions and thus claim them from the courts for themselves, and the newTree association handles a reasonable reforestation of the local tropical forest in Burkina Faso and in the Argentine, while the Sagittaria association is financially supported in purchasing about 400ha of subtropical thorn forest. The necessary financial means were procured with the help of art and art projects. The Foundation got one Swiss franc from every single paid admission to Fondation Beyeler for instance. In June, various works of art were auctioned off by private collectors to the benefit of the Foundation. At Art 33 Basel, where Art for Tropical Forests presented itself with its own stand to the world of art, the Foundation moreover received substantial sums from the following galleries: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac GmbH, Galerie Carzaniga and Ueker AG, Basel, Galerie Tschudi, Glarus, Galerie ART Focus, Zurich. Contact: Dr Hans Furer, Business Manager of the Foundation Tel. ++41 (0)61 261 45 45 / cell phone +41 (0)79 337 64 88 (For statements or interviews with Mr Ernst Beyeler, contact Dr Hans Furer.) |
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| The Projects Supported by the Art for Tropical Forests Foundation: | |||
| Pantanal-Project (Bolivia), WWF |
The largest wetlands of the earth, the Pantanal, is massively threatened by an excessive felling of trees, clearing by fire and its increasing development. The Pantanal feeds the catchment area of the Amazon River with water. By informing and collaborating with the local population, the establishing of principles and structures against clearing by fire and political lobbing on the level of administration and government, conservation is to be increased and the nature reserves already approved by the government (RAMSAR Convention) are to be enforced.
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| Stop the Illegal Felling of Trees in the Amazon Basin (Brazil) – Greenpeace |
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| The Penan in Sarawak (Malaysia) – Bruno Manser Fund | The Penan, one of the last nomadic people of the earth, live in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The government grants licences to timber companies to clear local tropical forests and, thus, destroy the livelihood of the Penan. Thanks to a court ruling by the District Court of Sarawak, a licence may now only be granted if the use of the forest has not been the property of someone else for long years. The Penan can prove that they have used this forest for many centuries. This proof could be submitted thanks to an accurate mapping of the Penan habitat enabled by the Bruno Manser Fund. The mapping project for these regions is time-consuming and expensive and requires a lot of technical aids. Both will now be financed by the Foundation.
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| Reforestation in Benin (Burkina Faso) – the newTree Association, Köniz | The destruction of tropical forests can be halted if the population dwelling in these regions can survive. Assuring their livelihood will prevent migration to other places and, consequently, the clearing by fire of the tropical forest. In Benin, 30,000 trees were planted in the last five years. Raised in tree nurseries, sold on the market to families at reduced prices, farmers are now able to plant, take care of and use these trees. This secures their income and prevents their migrating elsewhere or any clearing by fire. This logical project (with the people and by the people) will now be realized in Burkina Faso thanks to “Fondation Suisse pour la santé mondiale”.
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| Fondación Wildermuth, Pampas (Argentina) – the Sagittarius Association, Baden | Sagittaria (Swiss Association for Nature Conservation in the Argentine) accompanies an eco-based project for the conservation of nature and sustainable tourism. There already is a nature preserve of 13 km2 (Fondación Wildermuth) located 450 km to the north of Buenos Aires. The Foundation enabled the purchase of 400 ha of rare, subtropical, humid thorn forest. The forest protects a lagoon in the fringe vegetation zones. Also planned: a station to raise rare animal species and the promotion of sustainable tourism. Both Sagittaria in Switzerland and the Foundation Wildermuth reserve in the Argentine are headed by an expert Swiss management.
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