Mike and colleagues:
I have noted several such "NGO's" that appear to have dubious validity, and
have called some of them on it with little effect. Some have posted to
Ecolog, and when called upon to state their vitals, howled in protest
instead. In the absence of some reliable way of verifying how the money is
spent, no "organization" is going to get my money, and IF an organization
that does not have a track-record of efficiently applying a significant
majority of their funds to the asserted do-gooding, healthy skepticism is in
order. In some cases, prosecution for fraud might be.
If nothing else can be done, perhaps ESA should step in with some kind of
verification or oversight role. A lot of good people might otherwise be
fleeced at worst or send their money to an "organization" that only applies
a token amount to the good-doing. Any such organization should be able to
provide financial reports that can be verified. If the organization you cite
turns out not to be on the level, or is even a bit skewed to lining the
pockets of the "officers" and "executives," the taking of money from
7th-graders would be especially loathsome.
However, it just might be that some such organizations are formed by folks
with good intentions. Such people should be eager to provide evidence of
their commitment rather than just rhetoric.
In any case, the burden of proving legitimacy should fall entirely upon the
shoulders of the organization, not upon the donors.
If it howls like a wolf, and barks like a wolf . . .
NOTE: I have not, and will not, look at the website in question--to ensure
the generic and unbiased nature of my comments.
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Palmer, Mike" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 11:18 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] rainforest forever: is it legit?
Dear Colleagues,
Our daughter's 7th grade Geography class is having a fundraiser to buy and
protect rainforest trees, and the organization they are choosing is
'rainforest forever': http://www.rainforestforever.org/index.html. The idea
behind it is that donors will buy a tree, and get a certificate that has the
GPS coordinates of the tree - something that will reinforce material learned
in the class.
Sounds good so far. However, I have never heard of this organization, and
their webpage does not give any real contact information, nor any scientific
justification. Indeed, there are no names of individuals associated with
the organization. All the news searches I have done reveal articles that
repeat the information on the web page verbatim.
Nevertheless, I can find no specific information that the organization is
NOT legitimate, and I do not want to confront a teacher trying to do the
right thing unless I know more.
Does anyone have any experience with this organization, or any knowledge of
its legitimacy?
--Mike
Michael W. Palmer, Regents Professor, Botany Department, Oklahoma State
University
104 LSE Stillwater OK 74078 USA 405-744-7717
LABORATORY FOR INNOVATIVE BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS:
http://ecology.okstate.edu/Libra/
Wildfuels Blog: http://cas.okstate.edu/debo/blogs/
OSU Botany: http://botany.okstate.edu/
OSU Ecology: http://ecology.okstate.edu<http://ecology.okstate.edu/>
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