Bonobo Kids

Bonobo Kid's Book and Website Bring Environmental Action to Children and Help to Endangered Species

Vineyard Haven, MA (PRWEB) May 21, 2008 -- Jane Goodall provided the afterword and stunning backdrop for a new children's book and interactive website that connects children to endangered bonobos and the environment through awareness and action. Author Mathea Levine and photographer Marian Brickner introduce the world to a young bonobo who lives in the Jacksonville Zoo in I'm Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo. All profits from the book benefit the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) and Jane Goodall's youth organization, Roots and Shoots, when bought through the Bonobo Kids interactive website, Bonobo Kids (www.bonobokids.org).

"I'm Lucy and the Bonobo Kids website extend the work we're doing at BCI to the next generation of stewards for the Earth and its creatures," says Sally Jewell Coxe, president and co-founder of the Bonobo Conservation Initiative. "Mathea and Marian have captured all that make bonobos so special - their human likeness, their playfulness and their capacity to love. They are making a wonderful way for kids to learn, to get involved and to really make a difference."

Bonobos share 98.7% of human DNA and are distinguished from other great apes by their matriarchal and cooperative society. While over 100 bonobos like Lucy and her family currently live in zoos, wild bonobos are found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo where they are often hunted and their habitat is at risk from human encroachment and environmental destruction. In recent years, the bonobo population has dropped drastically, placing these endangered creatures devastatingly close to total extinction.

"It's wonderful that the lives of our Zoo's bonobo family, one of the most endangered species, were communicated in such way that children and adults alike can enjoy and learn," said Janet Johnson, Director of Guest Operations and Marketing at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. "If you weren't in love with these primates before seeing them and reading about them in this book, you surely will be afterwards."

At the Bonobo Kids website, kids and their adults find expanded information about bonobos, great apes, other endangered species and the environment. On the inside cover of I'm Lucy, readers find a secret password that allows them to garner detailed information about specific bonobos around the world. The Bonobo Challenge Blog keeps kids involved and in the know while also hosting contests, setting creative challenges and highlighting Bonobo Kids who perform extraordinary green, humanitarian and animal rights acts.

Bonobo Kids will be featured at the Bonobo Benefit for BCI sponsored by Peter Gabriel's organization, Inter-Species Internet, at Jivamukti Yoga School, May 31st 8:00-10:30pm, 841 Broadway, Manhattan featuring music by Tony Levin and Wynne Paris and a presentation for Sally Jewell Coxe.

"Womad's" Electric car wins TRC award

A man who built his own electric car and Womad's recycling efforts are among winners of Taranaki's Environment Awards.

Seventeen Taranaki businesses, farmers, community groups and individuals have been recognised by the Taranaki Regional Council awards, which were announced yesterday. Among the more eyecatching efforts was one by New Plymouth man Gavin Shoebridge, who has converted a petrol car to run on batteries. His story featured in the Taranaki Daily News in January.

Inglewood High School also won an award for generating its own power through a wind turbine. The 17 honours given out is the highest number since the awards began in 1993. TRC chairman David MacLeod says the awards reflect a special relationship between the people of Taranaki and their environment.
"It was heartening to have a bumper crop of nominations from which we could make so many awards," he says. "Environmental issues are the top of everyone's agenda these days, of course, but I believe these awards also demonstrate something special about Taranaki. We enjoy healthy rivers, a rich landscape, clean air, and a quality coastal environment but this is not simply by good luck."

Mr MacLeod says the level of grassroots community involvement is a positive sign for the future of sustainability in Taranaki. Yesterday, Suzanne Porter, chief executive of the organisation that runs Womad, the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, said it was great to get the environmental award. She said the waste minimisation they introduced for the three-day festival this year was quite a leap of faith for organisers, but it worked. "It really sets a benchmark for waste minimisation in event management," Ms Porter said.

About 75% of the almost 15 tonnes of waste left at the Womad site was either recycled or composted. Forty volunteers were the public face of the system, as well as sorting rubbish and assisting backstage. Ms Porter said several event management groups outside the region were interested in what they did at Womad. She said it was becoming more common for performers to have "green clauses" in their performance contracts.

Festival's green solution for mobiles

Revellers at this weekend's WOMAD festival in Wiltshire will be able to recharge their mobile phones using wind power, thanks to a charity's bid to raise awareness of renewable energies. The wind-powered turbine will be installed at the festival site, near Malmesbury, by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Staff from the Trust will encourage festival-goers to recharge their phones by plugging them in to batteries attached to the turbine, which converts wind power into electricity.

Steve Pagett, the Trust's fundraising events officer, said: "When you are part of a 20,000 throng spread over hundreds of acres of farmland, keeping in contact with your friends is really important. To help people get maximum enjoyment from the event we are running a Mistral wind turbine with two-metre diameter blades, sponsored by npower renewables, to make sure that mobile phones can be recharged. Ideally people should be thinking about minimising their energy consumption, but the Trust is also looking for new ways to support access to renewable energy."

The Trust believes tackling environmental issues such as global warming is vital to conserving wildlife. Mr Pagett added: "It's important that we emphasise the benefits of renewable energy to the festival-going audience and gain their support for wider conservation and environmental action. Now that WOMAD, a festival that celebrates global music, is located in a stunning corner of Wiltshire, we are hoping that everyone will see the thread between preserving our own natural beauty and protecting the environment globally."

WOMAD (World Of Music Arts and Dance) runs from tomorrow until Sunday.