Last April, the Rotary Club Amstelveen organized a dynamic fundraising event: the Rotary Beach Volleyball Tournament! Twelve teams, one of which was a BJF Team, faced each other to share nice moments and raise funds for our cause. The final result: € 8.000 in donations for the BJF! Thank you so much Rotary Amstelveen!
Eric Schoorl is a dedicated member of the BJF-Team in Holland. Eric holds extensive professional experiences as a physical geographer and environmentalist. He is also an avid nature-lover and birdwatcher. Nowadays he uses his enthusiasm to manage TheLast600 campaign and carries out many other daily tasks to keep the BJF running. Thank you Eric
The Tiezzi family own two cattle farms along the Araguaia river in Tocantins state. They are truly setting the example for all other landowners in the Corridor Zone. They have embraced the idea of starting to reforest key areas of their two farms and join the Araguaia Corridor initiative. As ‘transition farmers’, they are also transforming their cattle farms into an ecologically friendly operation, while aiming to increase its productivity.
After one year of valuable experiences, the first phase of the BJF Pilot Project has now been completed! We have partnered with six landowners, mapped their properties totalling 6,000 hectares and determined the key areas to be reforested (as per the Brazilian environmental law). Also, the selection of native trees required for the reforestation phase for each property has now been concluded!
Phase 2 is about to begin: the planning of the forest restoration itself, in close cooperation with our technical partners, LERF and Bioflora. Hereafter, we will start with planting the seedlings of native trees in order to bring new healthy forests back into existence.
We are honored to welcome our first female Ambassador: Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan. Besides being a heartwarming and down-to-earth personality, she is a globally renowned advocate of biodiversity conservation. She has earned an impressive list of awards for her work in the field of conservation, among them the honorary title of Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine. She is the first Arab woman to be featured.
Princess Basma bint Ali was also elected as a laureate of the Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement (UNEP). In December 2016, she signed on for the BJF Ambassadorship and she is very committed to promoting the BJF and our cause in the Middle East and beyond. Welcome to the the BJF Team, Princess Basma!
Dr. Tito is also the owner of the medical clinic Villas Boas in Brasília and became the first landowner in the Araguaia Corridor who also supports the BJF financially. To share his positive involvement, he uses the waiting rooms and reception hall in his clinic as a ‘BJF sanctuary’ to draw attention from all patients and suppliers to our major reforestation initiative. Thank you, Dr. Tito, for your endeavours to set an example for all landowners in Brazil and beyond.
In 2016, we were delighted to experience a positive change in mindset towards conservation among landowners in the Corridor Zone. A true example of such a landowner is Dr. Tito Mundim. Several years ago, he purchased almost 3,000 ha along the Araguaia river, just for the sake of preserving the virgin forest and its rich biodiversity.
He has welcomed the work of the BJF with open arms now that he foresees that his 3,000 ha of forestland will become part of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor. Around 100 ha of his land still needs to be restored to its natural habitat. In the spring of 2017, the BJF and its partners will analyze the required mix of native trees required. Consequently, we plan to build a nursery on his land to have the indigenous trees available so we can plant the trees required to create a fully intact nature reserve.
BJF is proud to present its new technical partner in Brazil: Etnia Planetária Institute! As an environmental NGO based in Brazil, its goal consists of reconciling nature conservation with economic and social development, thus giving a true meaning to the word sustainability.
They will cooperate with the BJF in elaborating on projects, fundraising, networking and the implementation of reforestation actions in the Araguaia Corridor.
Rotary Club Amstelveen and Beach Aalsmeer are partnering to organize the Rotary & BJF Beach Volleyball Tournament! It will take place on the 6th of April 2017 and its goal this year is to raise funds for the BJF (and also have lots of fun!). Each year, company teams (eight players per team) compete for the championship. You and your company can still register! Click here to view the brochure online or directly register your team at: rotaryclubamstelveen@gmail.com
Good news for our donors and sponsor partners in Germany! BJF in the Netherlands has recently been approved by the German branch of the network ‘Transnational Giving Europe’. That means that donations to the BJF from Germany-based donors, can now become fully tax deductible. Just click on the following link to view the new payment link.
