Ampibian Ark Donations Drive

John

John

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(January 2nd 2009: This donations drive is now over but I'm leaving this thread as a record of what we accomplished)

From December 2nd 2008 to January 1st 2009 (my time, Central US time, GMT - 6 hours), we are running a Caudata.org Donations Drive for Amphibian Ark (AArk), a charity devoted to the conservation/preservation of amphibians. You can read more about them at the bottom of this page in the quotation box. Before you do that, here's how we're running this drive:

  1. Make a One-Time donation (sorry, I can't fix it so that it's a recurring donation) using the special Amphibian Ark donation button on Caudata.org (accessed at our Caudata.org Paid Donations page from the UserCP link on the top left of the forum). I have disabled new normal Caudata.org Donations.
  2. Your donation will go to AArk (not Caudata.org) and it will be marked as being part of the Caudata.org Donations Drive (so they will know you are a Caudata.org member).
  3. Email me (John) the email receipt from Paypal that you get for the donation. My email address for these receipts is forum_admin@NOSPAMcaudata.org (remove the NOSPAM part).
  4. I will then give you donor status on the forum proportionate to the amount you donate (on the same scale as our normal donations). If you already have donor status I will extend your status by the appropriate time for the AArk donation you have made.
  5. Your name will appear on our public list of those who have donated to AArk as part of our donations drive, as well as a running total of how much we have given. That thread is here.
IMPORTANT: AArk gets your donation if you use the AArk donation button, not Caudata.org. AArk is a registered charity (unlike Caudata.org) so for those people who live in countries that allow tax deductions for charitable donations, that donation will qualify (unlike donations directly to Caudata.org). That is why we're doing it this way. Remember that unless you use the AArk donation button located here on Caudata.org AArk will not know you are a member of Caudata.org participating in the donations drive. We are running it this way so that you can avail of the tax deduction if you choose (and if it's possible in your country).

Again, go to the Caudata.org Paid Donations page and click the Amphibian Ark Donation button. This donations drive does not apply to recurring donations to Caudata.org.

You can read more about Amphibian Ark here and about their donations here. Finally, we are not affiliated in any way with Amphibian Ark (though I think we would like to be!).

Chris Michaels inspired this, and here is his excellent description of why we should donate to AArk:

At the recent symposium on amphibian declines and conservation the Amphibian Ark people mentioned Caudata.org in their lectures as an important source of knowledge of caudate husbandry/captive breeding and also as a valuable educational centre. In other words the zoos are starting to change their attitude towards private individuals (I know that there have always been exceptions, but this has long been the general case), and it would be very good to try to foster a positive relationship between AArk and Caudata.org.

Here's (briefly) why AArk needs funds, for those who don't know; between 1/3 and 1/2 the world's amphibians are threatened with extinction (it's a variable estimate as there are lots of data deficient species, and a number of these are data defficient as they haven't been seen for years). The causes are habitat destruction, over-harvesting and disease (largely Bd, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the Chytrid fungus), which causes fatal chytridiomycosis in many amphibian species). When Bd moves into an area in, for example, Meso-America, it tends to extirpate 50% of the species there entirely, and reduce other species' populations by 80%. Most of these stats are based on more easily visible frogs; the plethodontid neotropical salamanders are thought to be dying en masse in the canopy without people noticing.

More relevant to Caudata.org, 50% of the world's salamanders are threatened with extinction.

AArk is tasked with creating ex situ breeding programs (preferably in the country of origin) for threatened amphibian species, with the goal of re-introduction once threats in the wild have been mediated (which is being worked on). At the moment, they want to at least create these programs for the 500 or so critically endangered or extinct in the wild amphibians (species like Neurergus kaiseri are high priority - it's not all anurans) based upon priority rankings calculated to include likelihood of reintroduction success and wild status as well as other factors.
At the moment, they have the funds and capacity to run a maximum of 50 of these species programs. Less than 10%. At this rate a number of species will disappear before they can be saved, simply because there was no money to save them. It costs only US $100,000 to save one species (a mid-range estimate). This is the budget for one elephant in captivity for 1 year. This is not only important conservation, but also cheap conservation. There is no good reason why species should be allowed to go extinct, and it is important that the relatively few people who are bothered about amphibians help AArk to do something about it.

I think it is important to tell people what AArk is trying to do, and why they need to donate to AArk.
Click to expand...
 
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I just want to throw my $0.02 in here. Tis the season for giving, and what is better than giving to a cause that specifically supports the protection of amphibians?

I think that as a group, we can really make a difference in Amphibian Ark's finances this year! Let's show these people we really do care!
 
I received this message today from Dr. Kevin Zippel, Program Director of Amphibian Ark. He has kindly allowed me to share it with you all:

Hi John, I just wanted to say thanks for this: http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58435. It really means a lot to us in the AArk office that you guys think enough of our efforts to lend your support in this manner. The donations are already starting to come in. Also, it appears we might be able to track them separately from our other online donations, which means we can keep a tally, let you know how much you accomplished by the deadline, and even talk about where you might want your funds to go. I am guessing to a caudate program <grins> but we can talk about some specific options if you are interested.

Thanks again to you and the group.

--
Regards, Kevin
===
Kevin C. Zippel, Ph.D.
www.AmphibianArk.org
===
Click to expand...
You can read more about Kevin at his Amphibian Ark page.
 
John said:
The donations are already starting to come in. Also, it appears we might be able to track them separately from our other online donations, which means we can keep a tally, let you know how much you accomplished by the deadline, and even talk about where you might want your funds to go. I am guessing to a caudate program <grins>
Click to expand...

Hi John,

I hope you don't mind me asking but was this ever an option when you thought about doing this and if so is there any specific programs that you had in mind?

Thanks in advance,
Justin
 
Greatwtehunter said:
I hope you don't mind me asking but was this ever an option when you thought about doing this and if so is there any specific programs that you had in mind?
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No, we had no contact with AArk and just did this off our own bat. I would have never presumed to tell them how to spend the money. However if they are offering, I am open to it!
 
John said:
No, we had no contact with AArk and just did this off our own bat. I would have never presumed to tell them how to spend the money. However if they are offering, I am open to it!
Click to expand...

After re-reading my question, it did seem a little presumptious, sorry. What I was trying to ask is if you had any programs in mind since receiving the message from Kevin.

Thanks,
Justin
 
Not yet. I posted his message to hear from the members here. I think we need some of the AArk program details first though.
 
Hi all, with a little prodding from Tim, we are going to put together a small menu of species-based options to choose from. maybe putting a face on the fund drive will bring further inspiration! cheers

John said:
Not yet. I posted his message to hear from the members here. I think we need some of the AArk program details first though.
Click to expand...
 
A quick post to encourage some more donations (15 donations so far out of the few thousand amphibian lovers on this forum) LETS TRY TO GET TO $1000!!!!! (perhaps add to the announcement bar?)

I am looking forward to seeing the different project options!

Chris
 
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I'll see what I can do about donating. It won't be much, but every little bit helps.
 
Exactly, Jeff; if every member donated $1 we would have well over $1000.
 
froggy said:
Exactly, Jeff; if every member donated $1 we would have well over $1000.
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I agree, in theory. Small donations are certainly welcome, and many small donations will add up to a nice sum. But before a bunch of you go and donate $1, I need to mention that Paypal takes at least $0.30 out of every transaction, so giving a donation that small isn't very practical.
 
Can you even donate $1.00? I thought the minimum was $5.00.
 
It was a figure of speech. People don't need to donate huge amounts to help support the charity.
 
froggy said:
A quick post to encourage some more donations (15 donations so far out of the few thousand amphibian lovers on this forum) LETS TRY TO GET TO $1000!!!!! (perhaps add to the announcement bar?)

I am looking forward to seeing the different project options!

Chris
Click to expand...

You've got a good point, Chris. Money's pretty tight right now, but I can at least spare a few bucks.
 
We've now entered the final 10 days of this campaign. I believe we can break $1000 before January 2nd. Please join us by donating to this most worthy of causes.
 
There is not much time left and I encourage everyone to do something good and give some money to this cause. I'm not sure if we can make the 1.000 $ and I think that the caudata.org community already did some good. But maybe...you know what I mean, right? ;)
 
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