It's time for Tier 2: Expanding Frosted Elfin Conservation!!! Donate: https://www.wildgreencharitybattle.org Full Info: https://www.wildgreenfuture.org/ Tier 2 Details: The frosted elfin is a small brown butterfly considered to be rare and declining throughout its geographic range, which extends from New Hampshire and Wisconsin to Florida. It is likely extirpated in several states and provinces of its former range, and is listed as a species of special concern, threatened, or endangered in 11 states. It occurs in small, localized populations, and its caterpillars specialize in sundial lupine and wild indigo. Extremely vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation, frosted elfin populations have been lost from 7 of the 10 locations in Florida where they were present as recently as 2017. The Daniels Lab at the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity has over 30 years' experience in captive breeding of at-risk taxa, including the Miami Blue Butterfly and Schaus's Swallowtail. Last year, Wild Green Future funded the augmentation of the Daniels Lab's frosted elfin captive breeding program with new individuals and diverse DNA from remaining wild Florida populations. Funds from Charity Battle VI also enabled the creation of a manual containing the comprehensive set of husbandry and breeding best practices for conservationists across the butterfly's range. We are expanding on last year's success in Tier 2. This year's grant will support the creation of a separate captive population with genetics from frosted elfins in Virginia to ensure the survival of that region's genetic variation. It will also allow for the collection of nondestructive tissue samples to enable further genetic analysis of the Virginian populations. Finally, funding from this year's Charity Battle will allow the Daniels Lab to conduct trainings for frosted elfin detection and population survey methods with natural resource professionals in Louisiana and Alabama, enabling these state agencies to better monitor their local populations. Confused? The Charity Battle is a wild green annual tradition. Everyone divides into nature-themed gangs based on their favorite ecological interests and competes to see which gang can raise the most money for conservation through the official group nonprofit, Wild Green Future. Donations of $10 USD or more get a sticker specific to the donor’s gang in the mail, and the gang that raises the most money by the end of the battle wins! Stickers ship globally. Regardless of which gangs you choose, the donations will go towards the same causes. Gangs are not themed or based on the conservation projects (i.e. a donation to Bird Gang doesn’t go to a bird conservation group), but are instead a fun way for passionate nature fans to compete. If you aren’t in a place to donate, you can still help by making memes for your preferred gang! Memes are the driving force for the Charity Battle, and without them it wouldn’t be nearly as successful! The Starting Five gangs have now been chosen! The battle proper will take place from Monday, 2/17 at Noon EST to Saturday, 3/1 at 11:59 PM EST. We are rolling out this year’s goals and partner projects over the course of the weekend. To learn more about the Charity Battle and Wild Green Future’s past projects, check out the Wild Green Future website, http://www.wildgreenfuture.org! Pictures courtesy of Jaret Daniels and Geena Hill. (fb)

In just over a day, Tier 1 is complete! On to Tier 2! Donate: https://www.wildgreencharitybattle.org Full Info: https://www.wildgreenfuture.org/ Tier 1: Conserving the Brazil Nut Corridor Most of the world's supply of Brazil nuts comes from the Madre de Dios department of Peru. Because Brazil nut trees are dependent on intact rainforest to complete their life cycle, the Peruvian government has designated family-owned concessions where most extractive activities are limited and the sustainable harvest of Brazil nuts can be maintained. As long as the Brazil nut harvest continues to support the concessionaires who live there, this globally-significant region of the Peruvian Amazon will remain intact. At the request of local concessionaires, the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon (ASA) is working to ensure the sustainability of the Brazil nut harvest and by extension the survival of this essential piece of the Peruvian Amazon. They do this through the Brazil Nut Corridor Project. Participating concessionaires are provided with workshops on the cultivation and planting of Brazil nut seedlings in forest gaps, and those who complete the program receive 80 Brazil nut seedlings for the lands they manage. Transportation assistance is provided when needed to attend the workshops, and concessionaires are given a guidebook created by ASA and a forestry expert in the region as a reference. This year, ASA is continuing to expand the program, providing workshops for new concessionaires and checking in with participants from previous years to see their progress. Wild Green Future has had the pleasure of supporting this excellent community-based conservation project since its start in 2021, and we are excited to provide continued funding through Tier 1 of this year’s Charity Battle. Confused? The Charity Battle is a wild green annual tradition. Everyone divides into nature-themed gangs based on their favorite ecological interests and competes to see which gang can raise the most money for conservation through the official group nonprofit, Wild Green Future. Donations of $10 USD or more get a sticker specific to the donor’s gang in the mail, and the gang that raises the most money by the end of the battle wins! Stickers ship globally. Regardless of which gangs you choose, the donations will go towards the same causes. Gangs are not themed or based on the conservation projects (i.e. a donation to Bird Gang doesn’t go to a bird conservation group), but are instead a fun way for passionate nature fans to compete. If you aren’t in a place to donate, you can still help by making memes for your preferred gang! Memes are the driving force for the Charity Battle, and without them it wouldn’t be nearly as successful! The Starting Five gangs have now been chosen! The battle proper will take place from Monday, 2/17 at Noon EST to Saturday, 3/1 at 11:59 PM EST. We are rolling out this year’s goals and partner projects over the course of the weekend. To learn more about the Charity Battle and Wild Green Future’s past projects, check out the Wild Green Future website, http://www.wildgreenfuture.org! Pictures courtesy of ASA. (fb)