Announcing Dates for 2009 MCLUS Trip to BEN

Next summer’s trip dates are now confirmed. June 22-July 5, 2009 will be the adventure-filled/conservation/reforestation/photographyecotourism opportunity of a lifetime. Ask anyone who has gone on these trips to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in the past! Check out overview of the trip on www.mclus.org/eco-tourism/about/ and enjoy. Start making your plans now and ask info@mclus.org for references from past participants, if you like.

Rainforest Quilt: Successful Fundraiser

The rainforest has become a hot topic for children in Macomb, Illinois. Almost 200 students and the local Girl Scout troop have been painting and sewing a Rainforest Quilt. Local businesses were invited to buy donor squares that will have their names stitched into the quilt and create a border around the colorful squares of animals and plants of the rainforest that the children are creating. It is a true work of art with input from kids, teachers, parents, and businesses in the community. The Quilt has provided funding to help send a teacher to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. To see more of the children’s own art work go to www.mclus.org/kids/quilt_project. For information on how you could replicate this community based fundraiser for the BEN (El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos) contact Lisa Gruver at joelandlisa@gmail.com.

Kid’s Book Project: Draw your own Rainforest Illustrations

DREAM THE FOREST WILD: How Children Saved a Rainforest by Sue Memhard with Jim Crisp. This is the remarkable, true story of how El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos (affectionately known as the BEN, in English - The Children’s Eternal Rainforest) came to be saved thanks to kids from around the world. Now, twenty years later, the lyrical story Dream the Forest Wild continues to inspire kids everywhere and invites kids to be their own illustrators. Read the story, and ask your teacher if you can be part of the KIDS BOOK PROJECT by drawing your own illustrations and going to www.suememhard.com/ChildrensRainforest/ to get them published. Then you can have a book sale of your own version. What a great way to spread the word about the BEN and be able to make a tangible donation at the same time!

Fox River Kids Help with Reforesting Pastures

Students from Fox River Country Day School in Elgin, Illinois came again to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Their teachers had prepared them well, so they were ready to take in what the forest had to offer. Expert guides taught them on site about bats, birds, bugs. Well, about mammals, amphibians and plants, too. They did a land use study, helped plant 195 native trees, hiked a lot, played soccer with local Tico kids at a rural school, went on a night hike, climbed to the 200′ tall waterfall for a swim, watched Volcan Arenal erupt, learned to make tortillas, rafted a river and kept extensive nature journals. Learning about the forest while in the forest is the best!

The Forever Forest Goes Home to Monteverde

Rachel got to hand-deliver autographed “thank you copies” of the new book about the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure, to a dozen expert friends in Costa Rica who advised Kristin Pratt Serafini and Rachel during the preparation of the book. Wolf Guindon, who was a huge facilitator in the early purchasing of the land for the children that created El Bosque Eterno de los Niños, is also celebrating the publication of his new biography,Walking with Wolf, by Kay Chornook. The Forever Forest is available through MCLUS for $20 including postage and handling. Simply mail your check to MCLUS, 1128 Weidman Rd., Town and Country, MO 63017.

Hollywood Gala Big Success

Thousands of dollars were raised at the Gala sponsored in large measure by New Chapter and Whole Foods Markets and Creative Artists Agency. To set the stage, images of wildlife from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest were projected on the huge wall above the dinning tables. Orchids graced each table. Violin music wafted through dinner conversation. The inspirational beginnings of the BEN by the Swedish kids were provided by Rachel Crandell. Stirring appeals were delivered by Tom Newmark, Michael Besancon, Anthony Zolezzi and TV celebrity, Suzanne Somers. These remarks and the premiere of Mark Wainwright and Alex Villegas’ video “Stranded” brought the realities of the plight of migratory species in the BEN to the hushed audience who now understands better why tropical rainforests are critical to the health of the planet. The BEN made many new friends on May 8 and a big stride toward funding land purchase on the Pacific slope. Thanks to the many generous donors, we raised over $40,000. This will enable us to take a big step forward with negotiations for land purchase that will reforest wildlife corridors and suck up carbon.

Quilt Project to Help Send Teacher to the Rainforest

A quilt-making project launched on Earth Day in Macomb, Illinois invites children and adults to participate by painting fabric squares with animals and plants from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Over 100 of these squares will surround a central painting on fabric brimming with wildlife. Sponsorships for the quilt and donations are raising the money that will be shared between a scholarship for a Macomb teacher to go on the MCLUS conservation/adventure trip July 14-27 and funds for environmental education programs in Monteverde, Costa Rica. When the quilt is completed, it will be displayed in the Macomb Public Library and borrowed by classrooms when they are studying about the tropical rainforest. Mary McMahon has been selected as the winning teacher this year. She has started to pack her backpack!

The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure by Kristin Pratt Serafini and Rachel Crandell

Just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest comes a gorgeously illustrated children’s book. Last year Kristin Pratt Serafini accompanied Rachel Crandell on a trip to El Bosque Eterno de los Niños to get to know the forest before she began her beautiful paintings. Her rich hues give a true picture of the colors of the rainforest of the BEN. The accurate and artistic depiction of the plants an animals are expounded upon in sidebars that accompany the text of the story. Peter and his mom, Anna, have come all the way from Sweden to visit the forest she helped to start in 1987 when she was a child. You, too, can hike with them and learn from Dwight and Rachel as they share the forest. This book is a celebration of the forest that has been preserved forever by the efforts of children all over the world!

“Never let anyone tell you that you can’t change the world. For the creatures that call the Children’s Eternal Rainforest HOME, the children who saved that forest made the difference between life and death. I feel so grateful that Rachel Crandell and Kristin Joy Pratt have finally told the story of El Bosque Eterno de los Nino’s testament to the power of children.” Lynne Cherry, author, The Great Kapok Tree

If you order your autographed copy from MCLUS directly, the entire profits (50%) will go to the BEN

Price: $16.95 plus postage and handling = $20
Please make out checks to “MCLUS” and send to 1128 Weidman Rd., Town and Country, MO 63017
ISBN 978-1-58469-101-3 Ages 5 to 11

Hollywood Gala for MCLUS May 8

Mark your calendars! You are invited to a star-studded Gala Party hosted by Daryl Hannah to celebrate the BEN and raise money to support the purchase of land to create a Pacific Slope corridor of reforested habitat. It will be held in Hollywood on May 8 at 7:30 p.m. The Gala tickets will be $150. Be the first to see the premiere of a short film about El Bosque Eterno de los Niños.

Costa Rica Adventure of a Lifetime July 14-27, 2008

Only a few spaces remain on the July 14-27, 2008 trip with outstanding guides focused on tropical conservation, wildlife viewing, great photographic opportunities, hiking, reforestation service project, rafting, visit to a school and local homes, etc. Two weeks for $1795 includes everything except airfare and departure tax. Deposit $200 will hold your spot. For more info see the www.mclus.org Ecotourism page or email Rachel at info@mclus.org.

Whole Foods Markets donate $103,699.50 to BEN

On January 30 all thirty-seven Whole Foods Markets in southern California donated 5% of their retail sales to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest! This amounted to over $100,000 that will be used to buy land and create corridors to be reforested. These restored areas will link the Bosque Eterno de los Niños (BEN) to lower elevation forest patches providing habitat and safe cover for migrating species. A huge thank you to Whole Foods, our second corporate sponsor. The check was awarded in the BEN on “the Big Hike.” Whole Foods has a history of outreach to support good works.

Left to Right: Michael Besancon, CEO of Whole Foods, S. California, Carlos Muñoz, Exec. Director of the Monteverde Conservation League, Costa Rica, Rachel Crandell, President of Monteverde Conservation League, US, Walter Robb, CEO of Whole Foods USA, Tom Newmark, CEO of New Chapter Vitamins.

7 CEOs Make the “BIG HIKE” Across the BEN

A glorious two day hike was especially arranged for the CEOs of seven natural products corporations to give them a firsthand encounter with the magnificent biodiversity of the BEN. Accompanied by forest guards, board members of MCL, biologists, and MCLUS President, the CEOs of Whole Foods, Seventh Generation, Nude Cosmetics, Pet Promise, Kopali Orgqanics, Luna Nuevos Extractos and New Chapter Vitamins made the two day hike from Monteverde to Poco Sol Field Station. Our days were filled with wading across rivers, scaling ridges, slipping down a landslide, meeting a venomous snake, staying overnight in the Refugio de Eladio in the heart of the BEN, watching white hawks soar over towering trees, hearing howler monkeys, smelling the mark of the puma, encountering a tarantula-hunting wasp and cloud forest anoles, feeling the high winds on the continental divide and finally resting by Laguna Poco Sol for a swim as reward for tired bodies.

A big thanks goes to Tom Newmark, MCLUS board member, for hatching the idea and bringing us all together to celebrate the forest and renew our efforts to protect and extend the BEN. Watch for an article in the NEW YORK TIMES soon in the business section. They sent a reporter and photographer to make “the big hike” with us!

Sign up for Eco/Adventure in Costa Rica July 14-27, 2008

MCLUS’ annual trip to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest offers a wilderness experience with expert guides. Learn about tropical conservation efforts in 5 different life zones! Two weeks for only $1795 plus airfare.

Lost Frog Species Found Again in Monteverde

Recently during fieldwork in the forest, Mark Wainwright of Monteverde and Andrew Gray, Curator of Herpetology for the Manchester Museum, UK led a group searching for frogs. They discovered Isthmohyla rivularis, a hylid frog that had not been observed in the region since the amphibian population crash there in the 1980s. The rediscovery was made during a very long hike to establish the status of the last known population of another species, Lithobates vibicarius. We are also pleased to report that they found a healthy population of Lithobates vibicarius as well. Several hundred animals, including numerous breeding pairs, juveniles and egg clutches were found.

GPS coordinates taken during the Monteverde expedition show unequivocally that the entire population of Lithobates vibicarius – the last known population in the world – lives within the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Likewise, the entire population of Isthmohyla rivularis – also the last known population in the world – lives within the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Thus, each protected area has its own endemic and highly endangered amphibian species. We hope this fact will serve as further inspiration for those who work for or support these two important conservation organizations.

Emberá Stories Never Before Written Soon to be Published

MCLUS has a hand in saving endangered stories from being lost, the ancient stories of the Emberá, indigenous people of Panama. Rachel has been video recording the storytellers from 12 villages along the Sambu River in the remote Darien jungle. So far 89 stories have been recorded and 35 transcribed into Emberá and translated into Spanish and English. Volume 1 is soon to be published with 22 stories in Spanish and English. The hope is to have 3 volumes in Emberá and Spanish with enough copies to distribute to all Emberá village classrooms.

MCLUS’ Biggest Year Yet Thanks to YOU

We are so grateful for increased support from our wonderful donors. As our story gets told more widely, we gain more partners and more donations. In 2007 you contributed over $100,000 that is enabling us to help expand and protect the precious biodiversity of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. THANK YOU and Happy New Year!

Children’s Eternal Rainforest Receives UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Designation

Photo by Dale Morris

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest, fondly known as the BEN, (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) has been included as part of a new Biosphere Reserve in Costa Rica under UNESCO and given the name of “Agua y Paz.” The BEN is one of the core areas of the 916 hectare (2300 acres) Biosphere Reserve adopted in Paris on September 19, 2007 by a unanimous vote.

MCLUS Namibia Trip in October a Success

Photo by Gay Townsend

The first MCLUS trip outside of Costa Rica recently returned from Namibia. Fifteen travelers accompanied Rachel Crandell on a journey that focused on conservation in Africa. We were treated to sightings of southern right whales, bottle-nosed dolphins, Cape fur seals and endemic Benguela dolphins in Walvis Bay while we learned about the sustainable harvest of oysters and guano there. Grootberg Lodge in the Damara Desert is a community-operated lodge built and run by local people as part of sustainable development. We donated school supplies and money to an AIDS “orphanage” on our way to Etosha National Park. As it was the end of the dry season, vast numbers of wildlife congregated at the waterholes and made for spectacular photo opportunities. We saw 83 elephants, 35 lions and scores of giraffe, warthogs, rhino, ostrich, thousands of springbok, and zebra, kudu, wildebeest, impala, gemsbok, dik dik, hartebeest, and one leopard. We tented at the Cheetah Conservation site and were treated to a close encounter with cheetahs on the run. Cape Griffon Vultures are among the most endangered of Namibia’s birds. We learned about their importance and plight, as well as the efforts to save them. Baboons were everywhere! A visit to a Himba village gave us a peek into the traditional culture of these indigenous people of the Kaokoveld.

New Intern

Gay Townsend joins MCLUS as volunteer intern helping with a multitude of tasks while earning her degree in Environmental Studies. We are grateful for her willing hands as she learns the ins-and-outs of running a nonprofit conservation organization.

Rachel’s Trip and Presentations to Schools and Friends

Student Ambassadors visit the BEN in July

Katherine, Ben and Elaine along with their moms, dad and grandmother had the adventure of a lifetime. Friends in their schools and homeschool group in Scottsville New York, St Louis. MO and O´Fallon, IL made major contributions to the Children´s Eternal Rainforest, El Bosque Eterno de los Niños (the BEN) and as a result these three student ambassadors were given a free trip to Costa Rica to learn firsthand about protecting the rainforest. Their donations were celebrated by the Monteverde Conservation League staff with a certificate, a BEN T-shirt and a BEN hat. Back home they will spread the word of the value of saving tropical ecosystems and their biodiversity. You can check out messages from past student ambassadors to the BEN on www.rainforest kid.com

Teacher Trip to the BEN

Teachers from Oregon to Florida received graduate credit for a twp week trip to the BEN full of education and adventure with a dual focus on tropical ecology and nature journaling. The art component was added to this year´s two week MCLUS Costa Rica trip with great results. Lee Ogle, an artist from Portland, Oregon, provided wonderful lessons and examples for the teachers whose journals soon were festooned with colorful art of what they had been seeing and hearing in the rainforest. Their mind-expanding experience was filled with wilderness, erupting volcano, waterfalls, professors and biologists as guides, a moving visit to a rural school, river rafting, time spent in five different types of rainforest, and friendship with local families including a lesson in tortilla making. They have much to share with their students when they return to their classrooms in September.

Christian Science Monitor Article re Monteverde Forest

The Christian Science Monitor’s front page article, “The Rain Forest’s Vanishing Species” June 21, 2007 gives a clear and detailed account of Monteverde’s dilemma caused by climate change. The Children’s Eternal Rainforest is 6 times bigger than the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and surrounds it on 3 sides, thereby granting a huge extension of the ecosystem, providing habitat and buffer zone. The article by Moises Velasquez-Manoff also explains why “corridors” are so important. That is exactly what we are fundraising for right now. Reading and sharing this article by Moises Velasquez-Manoff with friends will help to spread the word about our mission.

The five page article can be read and videos viewed online at www.csmonitor.com/2007/0621/p25s06-sten.html

SLRA Grant given to MCLUS

The St. Louis Rainforest Advocates gives grants each year to aid scientific research and grassroots organizations that further the cause of tropical rainforests. This year they awarded the $900 grant to MCLUS: $400 toward land purchase, $400 toward environmental education and $100 for the native plant vivero at Bajo del Tigre. Many thanks to SLRA for their support.

Hands of the Maya in Fifth Printing

Henry Holt publishers just ran a fifth printing of Rachel Crandell’s children’s book that provides the money for the scholarship fund to send Maya children to high school in Belize. Long live the scholarship fund and more reprints!

New Children’s Book about the BEN to come out 2008

Acclaimed children’s author and artist, Kristin Pratt Serafini, and Rachel Crandell are collaborating on a children’s book about El Bosque Eterno de los Niños (BEN) under the working title of The Forever Forest. Kristin joined Rachel’s group trip in March to the BEN where she began her research and paintings for the book to be published by Dawn Publications in Spring 2008. To assure the accuracy of the text and the illustrations, Kristin and Rachel conferred with experts Willow Zuchowski, Mark Wainwright, Frank Joyce, Richard Laval, Jim Wolfe, and Deb DeRossier, all biologists that live and work in Monteverde.

2007 Student Ambassadors to be Selected for Free Trip to the BEN

The three student groups that donated the most money to the BEN this year by the Earth Day deadline were 1.) Principia Lower School of St. Louis, MO, 2.) a homeschool group, Walking with Animals, in Scottsville, NY and 3.) J.E. Hinchcliffe Elementary School in O’Fallon, Illinois. Congratulations and a huge thank you to all the kids that worked hard to raise money for the forest this year. Now the student ambassadors will have to be selected, get their passports, and make their plans for a July 19 departure to Costa Rica!

Three New Board MCLUS Board Members

At our Annual Meeting on May 2 three new Board Members were elected: Tom Newmark, Terry Sheets and Gay Townsend. All three have shown deep commitment to protecting the BEN and sharing its message of conserving tropical biodiversity. Welcome Aboard!

Rachel’s Spring Trip and Presentations to Schools and Organizations

March 19-April 2 Trip to Costa Rica including 4 days at San Gerardo Field Station inside the BEN’s 54,000 acre wilderness with expert guides and endemic species!!!

April 11 Principia Middle School - St. Louis, MO

April 12 Delta Kappa Gamma Chapter Slide Show (a.m.)- St. Louis, MO

April 12 Stupp Senior Center Slide Show (p.m.) - St. Louis, MO

April 15 Decatur Audubon Society Slide Show - Decatur, IL

April 16 Johns Hill Elementary School Slide Shows - Decatur, IL

April 19 Principia Preschool Slide Show - St. Louis, MO

April 21 St Louis Rainforest Advocates presentation of “Rhythms in the Clouds” video of conservation in the cloud forest of Costa Rica at the Missouri Botanical Garden - St. Louis
April 23 Announcement to Principia Lower School winner of Student Ambassador Free trip to the BEN in July 2007
April 24 Principia Lower School slide show for Second Grade - St. Louis, MO

May 2 MCLUS Annual Board Meeting - St. Louis, MO

May 3 Canton Elementary School slide presentations - Canton, MO

May 12 Community Science Day at St. Louis Science Center - St. Louis, MO

May 15 Author Visit to Principia Lower School - St. Louis, MO

May 20 Glenridge Retirement Center - slide show - Chesterfield, MO