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African Rainforest Conservancy celebrates 20th Anniversary with Artists for Africa Benefit.
Honorary chair Christy Turlington Burns.
Cocktails, live and silent auction of art works and lifestyle items, entertainment, dinner.
For tickets and information, please visit www.africanrainforest.org.
Press release:
African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC) Celebrates 20 Years!
Christy Turlington Burns Chairs Benefit Honoring Deloitte LLP UK
with 2011 New Species Award at the 20th Annual Artists for Africa Benefit
The African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC) will honor Deloitte LLP UK at its 20th Anniversary Artists for Africa Celebration—to be held on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 6:30pm in New York at The Prince George Ballroom (15 E. 27th Street).
At the benefit, ARC will bestow the name of a newly discovered frog species from the Eastern Arc rainforest of Tanzania on behalf of Deloitte LLP UK in honor of the company’s ongoing commitment to ensuring these sacred forests are standing for future generations. Eco-activist and 2008 New Species recipient, Gloria Flora, will present the New Species Award to Deloitte who will join the ranks of previous ARC New Species Award recipients including Harrison Ford, James Gandolfini, carbon credit pioneer Dorjee Sun, and NASA’s top climate change scientist Dr. James Hansen. Esteemed author Jay McInerney will emcee the evening.
Additional event highlights will include live entertainment and an international photography auction, showcasing the works of over two dozen celebrated artists. ARC’s partnership with artists who have looked to Africa and nature for inspiration is an integral part of the annual benefit and ARC has enjoyed long relationships with many of the featured artists including William Abranowicz, Nick Brandt, Gerald Forster, Chris Jordan, Carlo Mari, Arthur Meyerson, Jonnie Miles, Joseph Peter, Mirella Ricciardi, and Spencer Tunick—many of whom will be in attendance. Specialty items such as safari and luxury spa packages will also be among the auction lots. Proceeds from the evening will support ARC’s grassroot conservation and community development projects in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc and coastal rainforests—among the oldest and most biodiverse in the world.
Founded in 1991, ARC is the only US non-profit organization that is exclusively dedicated to preserving Tanzania’s Eastern Arc. ARC works alongside its field partner the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) <http://www.tfcg.org/> to support a network of 146 villages in eight mountain and coastal regions throughout Tanzania that are protecting 250,000 acres of forest—an area 300 times the size of New York’s Central Park. Focusing on advocacy, Participatory Forest Management (PFM), environmental education, community development, and biological research, TFCG is a leader in implementing high-impact solutions to address the severe challenges facing Tanzania’s forests—which supply 45 percent of Tanzania’s water and are one of the top twenty Global Biodiversity Hot Spots—and the millions of people who depend on them.
’Twenty years of on-the-ground projects led by ARC have yielded 10 million trees planted and many new economic and educational opportunities in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc region,’ says ARC President, Carter Coleman. ’By empowering those living amidst the forest—endowing them with project ownership—ARC has helped the local people remain invested in preserving their natural heritage for decades to come.’
Says Christy Turlington Burns, the evening’s honorary event chair: "Since my first visit to Tanzania over 20 years ago, the country has held a special place in my heart. I have spent a lot of time traveling and working in Tanzania since that time. It is wonderful to see the great work ARC is doing and how much has developed because of their efforts. By involving the individuals from the communities in which they work, ARC teaches them the skills they need to help save their land - a great model for other organizations to follow."
ARC honors Deloitte this year for being one such organization. Deloitte, a brand under which tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services to selected clients, has been making great strides in corporate environmental responsibility. Its community investment program focuses on directing more volunteering opportunities towards environmental sustainability and providing pro-bono support and fundraising opportunities through the United Bank of Carbon, of which Deloitte is a joint founder.
As part of their partnership with the United Bank of Carbon, Deloitte identified a pilot project with ARC to support the conversation of an entire mountain and forest range—The Rubeho Forest, a 35550 hectare area known as the ’Galapagos of Africa.’ Since January 2010, its generous commitment is helping to bring environmental education to 65 schools with 30,000 students in the Rubeho and West Usambara Mountains, encourage tree planting to meet subsistence needs of local communities and reduce pressure on existing forests, and improve agricultural practices and other income generating activities for forest adjacent communities.
ARC is thrilled to continue its partnership with Romero & Miller who will supply the benefit with its Earth 3.0 Spanish organic wine—in bottles featuring the ARC logo—and who are donating a percentage of profits from select Earth 3.0 wines to ARC. Fine wine importer and distributor Frederick Wildman & Sons will also join in supporting ARC. As well, Tanzanian-sourced chocolate and coffee will be offered during the celebration, courtesy of Eat My Chocolate and Equal Exchange respectively. And continuing a tradition, jewelry company Alex and Ani will present their popular Tree of Life bangles to ARC guests. Gardenia Organic will design event florals and art shipping and handling will be provided by Cadogan Tate Fine Art.
For more information on the African Rainforest Conservancy and to purchase event tickets, visit www.africanrainforest.org or contact 212-431-5508.
Twitter: @EasternARC
Facebook: facebook.com/africanrainforest
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