We’re delighted to have as guest bloggers today our friends at Conservation International. Read on to learn more about our partnership to protect the Sovi Basin and how you too can help Conservation International protect rainforests around the world.

The more than 300 islands that comprise the nation of Fiji are a true biological wonder.  Dramatic volcanic mountains that gave birth to these islands tower above lush verdant forests.  Many of Fiji’s plants and animals are unique to the islands and have evolved very little since their ancestors inhabited the forests.

The crown jewel of Fiji’s spectacular biodiversity is the Sovi Basin, located on the island of Viti Levu.  The basin is surrounded by volcanic peaks which form a bowl shape between them.  The end result is one of the world’s most impressive geological structures. 

At Conservation International, our goal is to protect the world’s natural biological diversity and demonstrate that human society can live harmoniously with nature.  That is our mission and it guides us in everything we do. 

Our partnership with FIJI Water reflects that spirit.  Ours is a strategic and focused partnership whose primary goals include the protection of Fiji’s Sovi Basin, a crucial source of freshwater for the nation of Fiji and for the planet. 

To that end, Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund will contribute to a trust fund set up by The FIJI Water Foundation to protect the Sovi Basin.  The fund was launched with initial funding from FIJI Water owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick and the combined donations of more than 700 FIJI Water employees.  The fund will go to support the annual management costs of protecting the Sovi Basin. 

One of the most unique aspects of this funding is the compensation of local communities to protect the land around the basin.  The goal of that is to provide a different source of income to communities who traditionally become susceptible to logging interests and the one-time payoff that comes with cutting down a forest.  The trust will also support a facility to distribute small-scale grants for community development in and around the Sovi Basin – providing new opportunities to those communities to prosper and thrive.  The National Trust of Fiji is responsible for management of the Sovi Basin, and will receive and administer revenues from the fund.

But this is not just good news for Fiji.  This is good news for the planet because this ambitious and forward-thinking partnership to protect the rainforests of Fiji will result in about ten million tons of carbon dioxide stored in these forests will remain out of our atmosphere.  Since deforestation accounts for 20-25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere – double that of all the world’s cars, trucks, and planes combined – protecting Fiji’s rainforests protects us all. 

So join us and help protect an acre of rainforest by visiting www.conservation.org and click the “Protect an Acre of Forest” button.  For as little at $15 you can help Conservation International protect an entire acre of tropical rainforest.  Because what is lost there, is felt here.  We’ve enlisted longtime Conservation International board member Harrison Ford to help with the cause.  Click here to view the startling public service announcement that’s generating a lot of buzz.

When I was a kid, I watched documentaries on PBS that talked about the importance of protecting rainforests. (Yeah, I was a nerdy kid who liked educational TV!) That instinctively made sense to me - I’d see those beautiful landscapes and interesting animals, and of course I wanted them to be safe always.

But the part I thought was really cool was how the local people lived in the rainforest - mainly because it looked like fun to move around your neighborhood on rafts instead of on land. Now I realize that’s not actually the case in every rainforest or in all seasons…but when you’ve only got a few years under your belt you miss some of the finer details.

Well, I’m a bit older now, but I’ve learned my initial instincts were sound…and also learned more about why rainforest conservation is so important. Here are the facts:

• Deforestation is the second largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions today, following only the power generation sector; it accounts for almost 20% of those emissions, or twice the emissions from all the world’s cars, trucks, and airplanes combined
• Tropical deforestation in developing countries is responsible for nearly all (96%) of the emissions from deforestation
• Forests protect water and soil quality and provide livelihoods for over 1.6 billion people around the world; many of them are the world’s poorest people in Africa, South America and Asia
• But less than 5% of tropical forests are managed sustainably, putting these livelihoods at risk
• Tropical forests play a critical role in protecting unique animals and plants you can’t find anywhere else in the world

Yet incentives to prevent deforestation were somehow not included in the Kyoto Protocol. You might wonder why the protocol didn’t address this if it’s so important.

To paint it in simple strokes: Developing nations wanted compensation for not cutting down their rainforests. After all, they argue, if they’re giving up income from forestry and logging, they should be able to make up the lost funds in another way. But industrialized nations didn’t want to pay developing nations for “doing nothing.” So they reached an impasse.

It’s our hope that future international agreements will incorporate effective action to reduce deforestation. In the meantime, we’ve been seeking to do our part by partnering with Conservation International to protect the Sovi Basin. Now, we obviously don’t treat the Sovi Basin project as an “offset,” because it’s already there - we didn’t plant it. But we knew the benefits the Sovi Basin would provide to Fiji and the rest of the world - shelter for unique species, watershed protection, erosion control, and carbon sequestration - were benefits we wanted to ensure forever.

And hopefully I’ll get to ride on a raft in the rainforest for real one of these days…whee!

To learn more about conservation and reforestation efforts going on around the world, check out Conservation International’s web site.

Ben Jelen is an extraordinary singer-songwriter with a passion for the environment. This passion is infused throughout his music - check out the video of his single “Wreckage” below - and his life - his tour is carbon neutral. We’re thrilled and delighted to have Ben join us today and share his thoughts on FIJI Water, the Ben Jelen Foundation, recycling, and what we can all do to help care for our planet. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s Ben Jelen…

FIJI WATER

What interests me most in Fiji water is that they are a carbon-negative company — this means that their net activities actually reduce carbon emissions!! - how is that even possible?

To understand, I imagined a world without Fiji water, where their company had not existed. In this world, there was no effort to replant old rainforest. In this world there was no profit set aside to offset carbon emissions — no money put into offset programs that plant trees and build infrastructure for clean energy. In fact this world had the island of Fiji exporting timber, depleting the beautiful Sovi basin. Fiji water shows us that any company, even one that is up against a literal ocean’s worth of emissions can still have a positive impact on the environment. It takes real dedication and I applaud them for setting this example.

Taking advantage of new advances in green technology, Fiji water fits into my philosophy on Environmentalism - they are targeting a way of operating cleanly, realizing it takes time to get there, so starting now. Fiji water is not abandoning their business, but taking something that is part of the problem and turning it into a solution.

It is in this train of philosophy that I have started the Ben Jelen Foundation. As a musical artist consistently writing and talking about these problems, the foundation has been an amazing outlet for me, and a real way of helping with the environmental issues out there, focusing on solutions rather than problems. We kicked the foundation off at South by Southwest earlier this 2008 and it was a great success - since, I’ve continued to raise money - the money will be donated to the four following areas, with the specific recipients changing from time to time.

• Education: Local (New York) education of teens on environmental issues.
• Political: Donations to groups that lobby for environmental protection at the political level.
• Humanitarian: Give to those worse affected by climate change.
• Investment: Continue the long process of investing in clean energy infrastructure.

We’re excited to partner with Fiji water, talk about the issues and watch our progress - Something we can all help out with now is to recycle all plastics. Once the product is in our hands we do also have the responsibility of ‘completing the cycle.’

Please enjoy the video for my song “Wreckage” - This song is about hope, that the choice of taking care of our planet is very much in our hands. I’m so glad to see companies change the landscape from the inside out, its exciting and real!

For any more info, visit www.benjelen.com/foundation

ELLE Magazine has recognized FIJI Water in its annual green issue with an ELLE 2008 Green Award! We were hailed - alongside other recipients like Brad Pitt, the Energy Action Coalition and Paul and Stella McCartney - as one of the “people, products and concepts that put energy, and our planet, in the right place.” They highlighted the fact that FIJI Water is “carbon negative – not neutral – this year,” and spoke about our commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the bottling and shipping process, to preserve the Fijian rainforest, and to minimize packaging.

Take a look at what the other award winners are doing too. It’s so inspiring!

Our Senior VP Sustainable Growth, Thomas Mooney, recently spoke with Sustainable Life Media. In this interview, Thomas explains how we’re planning to fulfill the FIJI Green promise and answers the criticism that “bottled water” and “sustainable” don’t belong in the same sentence. You can read the interview here or listen here.