Finally, a billionaire who says he'll spend his money on preserving Earth.

[ancianita]

https://returntonow.net/2018/11/24/wyoming-billionaire-pledges-to-protect-30-of-the-planet-by-2030/?fbclid=IwAR0sOdeqMU68vHBUaS8nK4RyJBWJp7TAG7423WTCZYxLNimheWkjajeZ0HQ

The 83-year-old Swiss-born steel magnate Hansjörg Wyss — who’s now an avid outdoorsman living in Wyoming — has already donated $450 million to protect 40 million acres of land and water across the globe since the establishment of the Wyss Foundation in 1998.

Wyss has also supported anti-poaching efforts, river restoration projects, African national park improvements, rails-to-trails initiatives and land conversation in his beloved adopted home, the American West.

The new Wyss Campaign for Nature adds $1 billion more toward those efforts.

“Already, the campaign has identified nine locally led conservation projects spread across 13 countries — 10 million acres of land and 17,000 square kilometers of ocean in total — that will receive $48 million in assistance,” Mother Nature Network reports.

The first nine conservation projects to receive grants are:

1. Aconquija National Park and the National Reserve Project in Argentina

2. The Ansenuza National Park Project, also in Argentina

3. Costa Rica’s proposed Corcovado Marine Reserve

4. The multi-country Caribbean Marine Protected Areas initiative

5. The Andes Amazon Fund, which impacts Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil and Guyana

6. Romania’s Fundatia Conservation Carpathia, which spearheads conservation efforts in the Carpathian Mountains

7. The Edéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area in Canada’s Northwest Territories

8. Australia’s Nimmie-Caira Project

9. The Gonarezhou National Park Project in Zimbabwe

Funds will be granted to additional projects over the next 10 years.

“I believe this ambitious goal is achievable because I’ve seen what can be accomplished,” Wyss writes in an editorial for the New York Times.

[Maraya1969]

1. People like him have the ability to save our earth. And I'm glad to see he is the

first and hopefully the first of many.

[ancianita]

2. Not enough but maybe it only takes the first one to get others to join in.

Many of the rest are his fossil fuel opponents and reptilian enablers.

[Midnight Writer]

3. Billionaires can set up Trusts and Foundations that continue to operate long after they are gone

And it will not affect their personal lives one bit.

In fact, with the attendant tax breaks, it may have little effect on their bottom line.

A person worth 10 billion can do a lot of good by using, say, 1 billion of that to create a foundation serving the public interest, and still have 9 billion to play with.

I was amused by Mark Cuban saying people should be giving to food pantries rather than political races. Cuban personally has enough money to set up a foundation that would serve thousands of food pantries, run forever, change the lives of millions of people, and he wouldn't even feel a pinch.

If he was sincere.

[OMGWTF]

8. If we had the right people in office we wouldn't need food banks.

[ancianita]

10. As billionaires go, he's around 289 on Forbes. Your idea of Earth trusts is THE best idea!

Any number of trusts can exist across generations, and that's exactly what's needed besides real law enforcement against poachers and extractors.

[Sogo]

4. I thought Tom Steyer was on it, as well.

[jalan48]

7. Yes he is. He also told us in the debates that big corporations have taken control of our government

I wish more listened to what he is saying.

[Hortensis]

5. "Finally?" What about all the others?

Some have been at it for decades.

Good info about this guy, and thanks for that.

I think we should all know who those generally working on our side are, though, so we don't shoot at them by mistake. Until, of course, it's time to turn them into ordinary citizens and give them 40 acres and a mule along with the ones who could use shooting.

[ancianita]

11. "Finally" is about the public's hearing from any of "all the others" at all.

I don't know about mistakenly shooting them, but if there are these others who've been at it for decades, why aren't they near household name status by now?

Where have they been hiding, then?

[mopinko]

18. you never heard of bill gates?

course, he is working more on saving humans than just places.
but it's all of a piece.

[ancianita]

20. Who hasn't. But saving humans hasn't been 'all of a piece' in saving huge land base ecosystems,

and probably still isn't seen as such, or global extractors would have been stopped decades ago.



This environmentalism thing got brought up by Rachel Carson, gained momentum in the 70's as the stuff of college classrooms and novels like The Monkey Wrench Gang.Which is one reason uppity Americans got their higher ed costs jacked up and public schools defunded.

Big Corp has made sure that the whole idea of climate crises got twisted as hoax talk, to damp it down enough in PR white noise while drowning the EPA in Trump's gold bath tub.

So no, some things aren't obvious after four years of bs distraction.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. Predators sometimes let the lessor beings have their scraps.

[Hortensis]

24. Lol. No need to hide from people who aren't looking

because they're not interested. Btw, the "news" isn't in business to make us well informed. It's to provide an audience to their advertisers for commercials.

Philanthropy was hardly new back in the days when there was no such thing as centimillionaire billionaire classes, so people shouldn't be surprised that people incredibly wealthier now are giving even more away.

Fwiw, I'm not grateful. It's a disgrace that the public could need charity because of maldistribution of wealth. That's our fault. We need to put an end to it, and these new classes, and meet our responsibilities ourselves.

Whatever. If you're interested, maybe check the very famous Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a start. I know he's big into dealing with Covid right now. Or just google billionaire philanthropy and follow the cascade of sites and links that sets off wherever your fancy takes you.

[ancianita]

25. I was joking. I've read a bit on philanthropy in my day, and have visted the Gates' site, thanks.

I've read books on the world views, politics and mentalities of the rich, and not just American capitalists. I first got a glimpse of them from Lewis Lapham's book (forgot the title) back in the 80's on wealth, and got reminded of philanthropy's history in one of his Quarterly compilations about ten years ago.

As a Democrat and old anti-capitalist marxist I agree with everything you say about the falsity of public charity, the maldistribution of wealth and philanthropy's ridiculously self serving noblesse oblige approach to humanity.

I don't know why the difference between news and information would "btw" need to be pointed out, but whatever.

[Hortensis]

26. Oh, that's you, Ancianita! Sorry, I assumed it was someone else

and didn't check the name. Someone who wasn't joking.

Have a nice evening.

[ancianita]

27. Just a touch of sarcasm, not a pile of it, since the public isn't as aware of the long

history of philanthropy, I believe, as many of us are.

Thanks for your posts.

[Hortensis]

28. :) Same here.

[central scrutinizer]

32. Doug Tompkins, founder of North Face

He bought up thousands of hectares of old estancias in Chile and created giant national parks to preserve the land. He hired many people to go in and tear out the old fences. Sadly he died in a kayak accident a few years ago.

http://www.tompkinsconservation.org/

[ancianita]

14. Wait, one got public atttention years after its building -- the Svalbard global seed vault.

I just don't remember the Gates' names attached.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

The Norwegian government entirely funded the vault's approximately 45 million kr (US$8.8 million in 2008) construction.[3] Storing seeds in the vault is free to end users; Norway and the Crop Trust pay for operational costs. Primary funding for the Trust comes from organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from various governments worldwide.

And the reason it and other "archives" exist don't seem to me like investments in hope, just something for survivors.

I appreciate that Wyss' world outlook and effort seems preventive and not premised on disaster.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. An impressive list. Thank you Mr. Wyss.

[Turin_C3PO]

9. Great!

Some billionaires truly do care about this earth. Hopefully more will follow.

[ret5hd]

12. An excellent documentary on what we risk losing:

[ancianita]

16. Thank you! Have you posted this in V&M so it might be on DU's front page?

I'm pretty sure we're all in on getting a full public exposure of extractor-polluters who leave their poisonous messes (externalities) to puny humans (externalities) to deal with. They make their disasters look like "natural disasters," but they lie.

The model we use in building big government's courage to go after these global Big Corp polluters and their cowardly political enablers is crucial.

Common Earth property (e.g., Tongass) is not to be free for use for just any damn body.

[ret5hd]

22. Yes I did post on V&M...also...

I post it as a reply when I run across a relevant OP (like this time).

[ancianita]

23. Great. I must have missed it. This should be part of some Climate links archive we can

hit up when we need to. Seriously.

Much appreciated!

[JudyM]

29. Thanks for posting this.

[niyad]

13. KNR

[Duppers]

31. K & R