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The Walden Woods Project was founded in 1990 to protect land of ecological and historic significance surrounding Walden Pond. At that time nearly half of the Walden Woods' 2,680 acres remained unprotected from development. Two large tracts of land (a total of 43 acres) were under immediate threat as developers sought to construct an office park and a large condominium complex in close proximity to Walden Pond. In January 1991, the Walden Woods Project raised enough money to buy the 25-acre Bear Garden Hill site. A few years later, the Project acquired a second parcel, known as Brister?s Hill. In 1998, the Walden Woods Project opened The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods containing over 8,000 volumes and 60,000 items of Thoreau-related materials and launched its two trademark teacher education programs, Approaching Walden and Finding Walden.

Founded in 2004, Quail Springs is a leading educational non-profit that resides on a 450-acre permaculture demonstration site on the traditional homelands of the Chumash people in Cuyama Valley, California. Our mission is to empower students of all ages and backgrounds with knowledge, skills, and inspiration essential to cultivating ecological and social health in a rapidly changing world. Quail Springs teaches strategies and techniques instrumental for designing and building resilient, affordable, and carbon-neutral housing as well as ecologically sound and sovereign food systems. We are connected to an expansive local and international network of leading-edge practitioners. We envision an equitable global community that shares the bounty of this living planet and the responsibility to tend to its health. We believe the most effective way to foster positive change is through our relationships, both with one another and our ecologies.

We strive to contribute to a world where urban and rural communities take responsible care of their environment, work consciously to conserve and protect natural resources in sustainable ways, and preserve historical assets and heritage for the benefit of future generations. Our mission is three-pronged. Conservation: Create significant and sustainable environmental change, specifically focusing on climate change, water conservation, food security, waste recycling, sustainable energy, preservation of endangered fauna and flora and greening projects that incorporate poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods. Education: Increase capacity and expertise of the southern African environment community, by transferring skills, providing mentorship and building supportive networks for the development and sustainability of the environment sector. Innovation: Use modern technology (e.g. GIS) capacity to enhance conservation efforts and to pioneer socio-ecological approaches to protected area management.

About EcoHealth AllianceBuilding on 40 years of innovative science, EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust) is a non-profit international conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and safeguarding human health from the emergence of disease. The organization develops ways to combat the effects of damaged ecosystems on human and wildlife health. It specializes in saving biodiversity in human-dominated ecosystems where ecological health is most at risk from habitat loss, species imbalance, pollution and other environmentalissues. EcoHealth Alliance scientists also identify and examine thecauses affecting the health of global ecosystems in the U.S. and more than 20 countries worldwide. EcoHealth Alliance's strength is founded on innovations in research, education, training, and support from a global network of EcoHealth Alliance conservation partners. EcoHealth Alliance is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization.

LightHawk's mission is the champion environmental protection through the unique perspective of flight. Our goal is to mobilize enough volunteer pilots, aircraft and resources to help tip the balance toward sustainability for every major environmental issue within our targeted areas of focus. LightHawk helps to address environmental issues through: Educational flights over contested landscapes to convert abstract proposals into something passengers can grasp has a powerful ability to transcend all personal ideologies, change hearts and minds, build commitment, and lead to action. Technical flights are often the only practical way to obtain objective data on patterns of human and wildlife use. Technical flights include aerial photography, scientific data-gathering, wildlife surveys, and ground-truthing data obtained from satellites, high-altitude photography, or computer modeling. All  flights are donated by our corps of volunteer pilots.

Vaga Lume Association is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in 2001 grounded in the belief that investing in people is the best way to transform a reality. Its mission is to create opportunities for cultural exchange by reading, writing and orality, valuing the empowerment of people and rural communities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region. Vaga Lume works in 160 rural communities (indigenous, riverside, roadside, rural settlement people or quilombolas - Brazilian with African descent) of 23 municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region, which encompasses nine federal states (Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima and Tocantins), occupies 59% of the Brazilian territory and has 20 million people (12% of the Brazilian population). Despite the fact that education and culture are basic social rights, protected by the Brazilian Constitution and under human rights international treaties ratified by Brazil, its access and implementation in the Amazon region are very limited. It is one of the poverty zones in Brazil - with a GDP per capita 30% lower than the national value - where 42% of the population survives with less than US$ 5.00 a day. Due to the outstanding impact of Vaga Lume's work in the region, the organization is recognized by many international and national awards such as the Juscelino Kubitschek Award of Merit for Regional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean given by the Inter-American Development Bank (2009); the Millennium Development Goals Award, conferred by the United Nations and the Brazilian government (2005); the Vivaleitura Award, from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education (2008); and the Chico Mendes Environment Award, given by the Ministry of Environment (2006 and 2008). In 2011, Vaga Lume received its most important recognition: the 4th place at the Intercultural Innovation Award, conferred by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. As an awardee, in 2012, Vaga Lume was welcomed to the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI), a network formed by the UNAOC, the BMW Group and the ten 2011 winners. Through this network, the UNAOC and the BMW Group challenged all winners to replicate and scale up their actions to promote intercultural dialogue and offered training, consultancy and institutional support to assist organizations to accomplish such results.

Founded in 1981 in Seattle, WA, the Trust is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the snow leopard and its mountain ecosystem through a balanced approach that addresses the needs of the local people and the environment. Snow leopards range over two million square kilometers of mountain in Central Asia, including the formidable Himalayas. Experts currently estimate as few as 3,500 exist in the wild, fewer than the world's tiger population. As an "umbrella" or keystone species, snow leopard conservation has far-reaching importance as it leads to the protection of hundreds of other plants and animals sharing the cat's ecosystem. The International Snow Leopard Trust is the oldest and largest organization focused solely on saving this important species. The Trust works nationally and internationally to raise awareness about endangered species, and to empower people living within snow leopard range to become stewards of their environment. To this end, the Trust conducts educational outreach, scientific research, and community-based conservation.

Coral Restoration Foundation™ (CRF) is the world’s largest non-profit marine-conservation organization dedicated to restoring coral reefs to a healthy state, in Florida as well as globally. Headquartered in the Florida Keys, CRF was incorporated in 2007 in response to the widespread loss of the dominant coral species on Florida's Coral Reef. CRF’s core mission is to restore coral reefs, to educate others on the importance of our oceans, and to use science to further coral research and coral-reef monitoring techniques. Coral reefs are the most threatened habitat on earth and stony corals the most at risk group of animals facing extinction. All coral reefs, in all oceans of the world, are at risk. Since 2012, CRF has planted more than 230,000 critically endangered staghorn, elkhorn, and star corals back onto these reefs, an ambitious scope of work carried out by a small team of staff, countless volunteers , and interns. Large-scale and massive action is required to save our reefs. CRF has proven that this is possible after more than a decade of successfully outplanting corals throughout the Florida Keys.

Our mission is to promote dignity, community, and self-sufficiency by working with marginalized populations in rural Honduras on a long-term basis, facilitating access to health care, education, and livable wages. Our comprehensive approach to grassroots community development promotes local traditions, encourages community leadership, and emphasizes collective ownership. Un Mundo seeks to improve the present and future socio-economic conditions and the quality of life of the families in rural Honduras who are living in extreme poverty by providing them with tools and resources to be self-sufficient and unified. Our work began from spontaneous relief actions after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in 1998, and we grew to gain 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2001. Initially, the organization was sustained by the generosity of international volunteers, but we have gradually evolved such that more and more of our project work is managed by local Honduran leaders. Within a few years, we expect that we will be able to realize our vision of seeing equitable, fruitful, life-giving projects in the Cangrejal River Valley being 100% run by the local communities.

Renew Missouri was formed in 2006 to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy policy in Missouri. Our State lags far behind other states in terms of renewable generation (at less than 2%) and it is ranked 44th out of 50 in energy efficiency according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). To see why the ACEEE ranks Missouri 44th, click here. Renew Missouri’s mission is to transform Missouri into a leading state in both efficiency and renewable energy by the year 2016. In 2007, Renew Missouri advocated for true net metering and simple interconnection practices for small solar and wind systems. As a result, the Missouri legislature adopted the “Easy Connection Act,” allowing all Missourians to interconnect solar panels and small wind turbines to their utility grid free of charge and to receive full retail credit for any energy put back on the grid. In 2008, Renew Missouri helped Missouri become the 27th state to enact a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) and only the 3rd state to pass an RES through the ballot initiative process. The RES requires Missouri’s largest utilities to get 15% of their energy from renewables by 2021, with 2% of that energy coming from solar. The RES also includes a $2 per watt solar rebate program, which has proven to be a huge success. To address Missouri’s ranking in energy efficiency, Renew Missouri is also advocating before the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) for proven state efficiency policies that will create in-state jobs, lower electric bills, and reduce carbon emissions. Renew Missouri’s approach to advancing policy is to bring stakeholders for energy issues together to educate & facilitate productive dialogue. We educate legislators and other policy makers while also promoting renewables and energy efficiency to the public. We evaluate what energy policies Missouri could implement and guide stakeholders as they use the policies that are put in place. In September 2011, Renew Missouri reached out to the environmental non-profit Earth Island Institute, applying to become one of many organizations they sponsor. The fiscal sponsorship relationship that was formed gave Renew Missouri administrative support to better serve Missourians and to continue the pursuit of the clean, renewable energy they need. Then, in December 2016, Renew Missouri became our own independent 501(c)3 organization.

Biosphere Expeditions is an award-winning not-for-profit conservation organisation, and a member of IUCN and the UN's Environment Programme. For us successful conservation is the collective effort of individuals. We invite everyone to join us on our wildlife and wilderness projects all over the world. Whether young or old, become a citizen scientist for one or two weeks, or more. The foundation of our work is science and local need. We focus on sustainable conservation projects that target clearly defined, critical issues that humankind has the power to change. You, our international volunteers, work hand-in-hand with local biologists and communities to drive positive outcomes for biodiversity - the creation of a protected area for snow leopards in the Altai is just one recent example. Biosphere Expeditions is a member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Governing Council & Global Ministerial Environment Forum. Achievements include the implementation of our conservation recommendations and species protection plans by numerous national and regional governments and NGOs, the creation of protected areas on four continents, scientific and lay publications, as well as capacity-building, training and education all over the world.

High Country Conservation Advocates was founded in 1977—as High Country Citizens’ Alliance—to protect Gunnison County, Colorado from a proposed molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons. Known locally as “Red Lady,” Mt. Emmons rises directly above the Town of Crested Butte’s historic district. HCCA has successfully led campaigns to defeat two mining proposals and is currently challenging a third attempt. As an outgrowth of this work, we have become Gunnison County’s environmental leader, protecting public lands, water, and wildlife in an area that covers more than 3,500 square miles, which is larger than any National Park in the lower forty-eight. We are a grassroots organization that collaborates with local stakeholders and policymakers, applies sound science, educates, and upholds the environmental laws affecting our community. We recognize that environmental sustainability is the key to a healthy economy. We advocate for protection along the high alpine tundra of the Raggeds Wilderness and Collegiates, past the steep cliffs of the Black Canyon, from the North Fork of the Gunnison River’s rolling scrub oak hills and aspen groves, to the rushing waters of the Lake Fork. Our work ensures these iconic public lands and waters will be healthy for generations to come.