IOBY Now in YOUR Backyard

Ioby, Overbrook grantee and the crowd-sourced online platform for local environmental projects in New York City, is going national. Founded in 2009 by three friends looking to change the world, one city block at a time, ioby has since channeled over $250,000 to projects ranging from community gardens to park cleanups to solar powered film series.

The difference between ioby and other fundraising sites is its scale: $980 is the average amount raised per project. Smaller donations mean more individuals can participate: potential project developers need not worry their project is too small to attract interest, and potential donors know that even $20 will make a measurable difference. Ioby also helps foster a sense of community by focusing on local projects funded by local donors; being able to see the garden grow, literally in your backyard, can deliver a more potent sense of empowerment than contributing to a  global campaign.

Ioby's success in New York City has also allowed it to expand: it recently launched nationwide. Now citizens in Boise as well as the Bronx, Staten Island and Sante Fe, can raise money and contribute to local projects.

You can watch a short video of ioby co-founders Erin Barnes and Brandon Whitney here. And check out ioby's progress (and maybe even fund a project!) here:

On The Media in Mexico

While we will be covering this in more detail in the next week, we wanted to let you all know that On the Media’s Brook Gladstone and Sarah Abdurrahman, and WNYC’s Marianne McCune are in Mexico for a special trip to report on the Mexican press. This is timely moment to cover as the press, social media users and others turn their attention to the upcoming presidential election in Mexico. OTM plans to explore the media's coverage of the election, the power of the #YoSoy132 movement pushing for democracy and media reform, the structure of the Mexican media, and the threats Mexican journalists face for engaging in their work.  

In the weeks leading up to the program, you can follow the OTM team by listening to Brooke’s interview with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, reading blog updates on the OTM website, or following @onthemedia or the hash tag #otminmexico. Already, the team has reported on their experience in a large political protest in Mexico City. Stay tuned for more updates on the project! This special program will air the weekend of June 23-24 in most locations.*  For those of you in New York, it airs on WNYC on Saturdays at 7 AM and Sundays at 10 AM.  If you miss it in real time, you can also always download the podcast or stream it online at www.onthemedia.org.  

Overbrook is proud to support this trip because of our belief in the importance of the work of Mexican journalists to bring human rights issues to light and the quality analysis of domestic and international media by the On the Media team. We suggest you all tune in this weekend to learn a little bit more about the state of the media for our neighbors to the south!

*An earlier version of this blog post suggested that the program on Mexico would be the June 15, 2012 episode rather than airing the following week.  

Overbrook grantee helps block mega-development near UNESCO-recognized marine park

In a victory for the conservationist community and the fragile marine ecosystem in Cabo Pulma, President Felipe Calderon of Mexico announced last week that a controversial mega-development project in the area would not go forward.

The proposed $2 billion construction project envisioned 490 boat slips, two golf courses, seven hotels with 27,000 guestrooms for tourists and 5,000 worker residences, all within a short distance from the Cabo Pulma marine park. The 17,000+ acre park was designated off-limits to fishing in 1995, and has seen a 460% increase in marine life over the last 10 years.

Environmental organizations, including Pronatura Noroeste, one of Overbrook's grantees, fought vigorously against the proposal, claiming that Hansa Urbana SA, the firm behind the project, could not show that it would not have a significant negative effect on the UNESCO-recognized marine park.

On June 14, President Calderon acknowledged these concerns, as well as the petition signed by over 220,000 Mexican citizens, and withdrew the provisional permits granted to Hansa in 2008. As Patricia Arendar, the head of Greenpeace Mexico, puts it: "canceling Cabo Cortes is a triumph for Mexicans who raised their voice to demand that the president . . . stop favoring the interests of plundering businesses." It's also a triumph for the 20,000 year-old Cabo Pulma marine park, which was recognized by the Scripps Institution as "the world's most robust marine reserve."

Viva los peces!

Human Rights Grants Awarded at The Overbrook Foundation's June Board Meeting

The Overbrook Foundation’s Board of Directors met for the June Board meeting and voted to award eighteen grants through the Foundation’s Human Rights program.  The Board will award a total of $715,000 in grants to a range of legal and policy advocacy, media, and service-providing organizations operating in the US and Latin America.

Four of these grantees will continue their work to strengthen a domestic human rights movement.  Facing History and Ourselves will receive $20,000 grant for the Promoting Human Rights Education in Secondary Schools.  The Innocence Project and The New York Civil Liberties Union will each receive $40,000 grants. In the case of the NYCLU, this grant will be used for the organization’s incorporation of a human rights framework into their efforts to advance civil liberties.  The Innocence Project will continue in its work to exonerate those wrongfully convicted and to use these cases to inform criminal justice reform policy.  As in the past, the Urban Justice Center’s Human Rights Project and Sex Workers Project  will receive grants totaling $55,000.

In 2012, Overbrook will continue to offer grants to Freedom to Marry and Lambda Legal for their work to promote marriage equality in the US.  The organizations will be given grants of $45000 and $70000 respectively.

The Foundation renews its commitment to Reproductive Justice through awarding a grant of $45,000 to Advocates for Youth and $30,000 to Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program.  Additionally, a $25,000 grant will be awarded to Forward Together for the organization’s 2012 Strong Families Summit.

Supporting media as a means for promoting democratic discourse has also been a priority to the Foundation.  In June, Overbrook will extend this commitment with a $35,000 grant to Mother Jones’ Human Rights Journalism Project and $50,000 grant for NPR's Coverage of the Environment and Human Rights.  WNYC’s On the Media will receive $55,000 for its programs over the next year and in particular the show’s trip to Mexico.

As defenders of human rights defenders, Peace Brigades International will receive a $30,000 grant for protecting Human Rights Defenders in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia. The Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights – Latin America’s grant for general operating support will also be renewed at $40,000. WITNESS’s programs for Video Advocacy in the Americas will be awarded $45,000 to continue this important work to support human rights defenders’ safety and advocacy campaigns.

The Foundation’s priority to support Reproductive Rights in Latin America will be advanced through three grants. First, the Human Rights Center at University of Chile Law School will receive $50,000 grant for its 2012 International Human Rights Fellowship Program.  Second, a $40,000 grant will be awarded to International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region.  Finally, Women’s Link Worldwide will receive a grant of $25,000 for its work in Latin America as the organization’s first grant from the Foundation.

We would like to congratulate these organizations on their fine work to advance human rights and we look forward to see the exciting progress they make on these projects over the next year. 

Environmental Grants Awarded

At The Overbrook Foundation’s Summer Board Meeting, our Board of Directors approved eight grants to be awarded through the Foundation’s Environmental Program. 

All eight of these organizations have been previously supported by the Foundation, and with these grants, the Directors have renewed their commitment to the organizations and their missions.

The Overbrook Foundation will award $35,000 to Earthworks for its "No Dirty Gold Campaign." The campaign is a market-based effort aimed at bring responsible practices to the mining industry. Its successes include preventing the opening of a gold mine in Yellowstone National Park and helping to stop oil development in Yosemite National Park.

 

The Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA) will receive $55,000 for its efforts in reporting on, and helping to enforce, the Lacey Act. The Act forbids trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold, and allows for civil and criminal prosecution for such violations. EIA will use the grant award primarily to bolster investigations related to illegal wood sourcing in Latin America.

$70,000 will be awarded to Fundacion Cordillera Tropical for its work with Ecuadorian communities in the area near southern Sangay National Park. The Foundation is dedicated to empowering local communities to sustainably manage natural resources, and will use the grant money to develop and implement payment for ecological services in the Dudas watershed region. 

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) will receive $40,000 for its campaign to convince Cargill - a multinational production and marketing company - to adopt stricter palm oil safeguards by October 2013. RAN hopes that such adoption will convince other companies to follow suit, and thus help reduce the high social and environmental harms of the current palm oil trade, especially in areas of tropical forests.

Clean Production Action (CAP), an entrepreneurial NGO, will use the $60,000 grant from the Overbrook Foundation to scale-up its GreenScreen (GS) and BizNGO programs.  GS is currently the leading application for identifying safer chemicals, and BizNGO is part of a multi-stakeholder effort to increase sustainability and safety in the chemical, plastics, and materials sectors.

$20,000 will be awarded to the Green Press Initiative (GPI), an initiative committed to reducing the environmental impacts of the paper and pulp industries. The award will be spent with a view to reaching the 2012 treatise paper-related benchmarks of 30% recycled/ 20% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified (the industry is now at 24% and 16%, respectively). GPI will also continue its partnership with the Environmental Paper Network (EPN) to finalize a carbon accounting methodology.

The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) will receive a $35,000 grant for its "Don't Waste LA" project. This initiative aims to transform the waste and recycling industry in LA and other cities in LA County and create a model for sustainable waste management for the U.S., and is part of LAANE's broader efforts to transform conditions in underserved neighborhoods. The award will also be spent on developing a competitive franchise policy that maximizes recycling and establishes safety, labor and environmental standards for hauling and processing facilities.

Finally, $20,000 will be awarded to the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) for its efforts to bring together diverse stakeholders in the product stewardship arena and create a more comprehensive and effective set of policies and initiatives.

 

In all, the Overbrook Foundation’s Environmental Program, as directed by the Board, awarded a total of $360,000 in grants.  

As always, you can learn more about these grantees on their websites by clicking on their names in this post. Congratulations to these grantees and we look forward to their work promoting rainforest protection and sustainable consumption in the year to come!

Dialing C for Carbon Offset

The Surui tribe in Brazil recently became the first indigenous community to receive independent authentication of a carbon offset project.Developed over four years in conjunction with Google Earth Outreach, the project employed Android phones to help map the Surui's rainforest lands and measure itscorresponding carbon stocks.

The Surui Chief Almir Naramagoya Surui first contacted Google Earth in 2008, requesting access to available technology to address the rampant logging in the area. With the "Open Data Kit" for Android phones provided by Google Earth, they were then able to both photograph the illegal logging, and collect data on the carbon captured by remaining rainforest stocks. 

They then used this information to apply for carbon credit certification through both the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Gold Standard. The tribe will now be able to sell and trade the carbon offsets on the global carbon market, and use the money earned to reinvest in protecting their homeland.

The voluntary carbon market is a slow-growing, but potentially vast market, where organizations, businesses, and even individuals can purchase carbon credits to offset their own emissions. The entrance by the Surui into the carbon market represents an important step in including not just large renewable energy projects and producers, but smaller communities that can protect existing ecosystems from further degradation. 

First Circuit Court Upholds Ruling that DOMA is Unconstitutional

Today marks another successful step towards dismantling the federal ban on marriage equality as the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. A unanimous decision from a three-judge panel ruled that DOMA denies same-sex married couples the federal rights and privileges afforded to heterosexual couples across the United States despite the recognition of same-sex marriages in certain states. This decision responds to two cases; one brought by the state of Massachusetts and the other, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, by Overbrook Grantee Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

GLAD is a New England-based organization using legal advocacy to fight discrimination against Americans based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression. The Overbrook Foundation specifically supports the organization for its work to challenge the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Today’s decision is a victory for the movement to advance the freedom to marry in the United States. It is another important step as the momentum of support for same-sex marriage only continues to expand in 2011 and 2012.

While, as reporters, advocates and allies have recognized, this is only the first decision in the federal appeals process for the cases. Nevertheless, it does represent one more step towards these cases reaching the Supreme Court and the eventuality of the highest court ruling on the constitutionality of DOMA. Beyond advocacy work on the state-level to recognize and allow same-sex marriage, repealing DOMA continues to be an extremely important objective for the movement. We are proud to support GLAD as it continues with its excellent legal work and its determination to eventually eliminate this discriminatory federal law.

For more information, GLAD has published a press release and the court’s written decision after the case was decided. Mainstream media outlets, such as the New York Times, have also picked up this news of this decision and I am sure there will be more opinion and news coverage in the next few days.

New 2011 Catalyst Fund Evaluation Released

The Overbrook Foundation’s grantee, the Catalyst Fund, has released its annual evaluation (conducted by Korwin Consulting) of the fund’s activities and those of its partners and grantees in 2011. This report provides an analysis of the work of the Catalyst Fund to expand the amount of available funds going to support grassroots Women of Color-led reproductive justice organizations. In doing so, the report also provides a sense of the challenges and opportunities facing the reproductive justice field as a whole across the country. It explains the diminishing funds going to support this work even though the impact of the groups has been higher in 2011.


The report lays out the model for the fund. 26 national foundations support Catalyst which then gives grants to 12 women’s foundations around the country. In turn, these women’s foundations must raise the money to match the grant from Catalyst and then use both of these amounts to grant to 96 grassroots reproductive justice groups. In spite of the economic downturn, the Catalyst Fund has encouraged donors, including many individual donors, to move $8.6 million in new money to support the reproductive justice field since 2008.

Beyond the explanation of this exciting funding mechanism this gives a great overview of the reproductive justice movement and the field. It introduces the issues being addressed by these groups (ranging from abortion access to parenting rights to environmental justice) and the communities being served. It also reports the number of organizations that are engaging in different strategies like alliance building, policy advocacy, community organizing and more.  As the report states, “Collectively, Catalyst grantees in 2011 were instrumental in the passage of 10 laws and 10 non-legislative policies while blocking passage of 28 harmful new laws and protecting two existing policies from repeal.” The evaluation also addresses the challenges to the fund’s work and in the field as a whole. It highlights the fund raising, communications and capacity difficulties for the groups as well as the current political environment which can be both helpful and harmful to their efforts.

In addition to the quantitative data on policy victories, opinion leaders influenced and alliances built, qualitative interviews and stories of the grassroots groups’ work reveal why foundations and other partners, including Overbrook, have been so excited to be a part of this project. The evaluation reveals that this work is not easy, but these groups are continuing to demonstrate impact. From our perspective, supporting local grassroots groups working on the issues most important to their communities and led by those who are most impacted by reproductive health inequities is essential to expanding access to reproductive justice here in the United States.

Please click here to read the report’s summary and here to read the full evaluation found on the Groundswell Fund’s (which houses the Catalyst Fund among two other reproductive justice funds) website.

Two Overbrook Grantees Help Establish Clearwater, an Indigenous Ecuadorian Initiative to Provide Communities with Clean Water

Flowing from the February 14 2011 decision by an Ecuadorian court finding Chevron guilty of dumping oil and contaminants in the Amazonian rainforest over decades, indigenous Ecuadorian communities and a coalition of non-profits - including Overbrook grantees Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch - founded ClearWater in late 2011. This initiative aims to provide clean water in areas of the Ecuadorian Amazon hardest hit by years of oil pollution.

In early October, 2011, the ClearWater pilot project broke ground in the community of Cofan Dureno, with the community-led installation of 52 rainwater catchment systems (please see here for an example of the installation of a catchment system).

The basins are intended to reduce dependency on river systems for water, which have been heavily polluted through oil extraction activities. They cost about $1200 per family, but are also easy to install and can last up to 50 years if maintained properly. Further, not only are the systems ideal for rural areas, but the specially designed filtered catchment units will enable families, health clinics and schools to have clean water. 

Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network are key partners in this effort and are active in helping to raise awareness for the project, which not only offers Amazonian communities safe drinking water, but highlights their decades-long struggle to achieve recognition and reparations for destruction of their environment and way-of-life. 

Overbrook Grantee 350.org helps introduce the End Polluter Welfare Act into Congress

On May 10th, Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (MN), joined by Overbrook Grantee 350.org, introduced the "End Polluter Welfare Act" legislation into Congress. The bill aims at cutting billions in federal subsidies currently given to the oil, coal, and gas industries.

The bill notes that fossil fuels are subsidized at 6 times the rate of renewable energies: $72 billion in 2002-2008, compared with $12.2 billion for renewables. By contrast, in 2011 alone, the five largest oil companies earned a combined $137 billion. Furthermore, the new bill would not only prevent millions of tons annual carbon emissions, it would save billions of dollars. For example, $12 billion would be saved by repealing a 2004 law that allows fossil fuel corporations to take deductions by claiming they are manufacturers, one of many such exemptions.

The efforts of Bernie Sanders and Keith Ellison were supported by 350.org, a global grassroots coalition that seeks to curb carbon emissions by using social media and online campaigns to catalyze public protests. For instance, in the wake of the Heartland Institute's billboard attacks likening climate change believers to the Unabomber, it immediately organized online counter-protests. The backlash resulted in the pull-out by several high-profile funders from the Institute. 350.org also offers a host of resources on organizing events, protests, workshops, and campaigns.

While the bill will certainly face daunting challenges in both the House and the Senate (where climate change deniers grow ever more vocal), its introduction signals a new willingness to tackle entrenched energy interests. And, by partnering with next-generation grassroots organizations like 350.org and harnessing broad-based public support, such bills may finally have a chance to succeed.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women in the New York Times Magazine

This past weekend, the New York Times Magazine ran an article, “Mommy Had To Go Away For A While", and its website published it under the title, “The Criminalization of Bad Mothers”.  In the article, Ada Calhoun tells the story of several women who have been arrested under Alabama’s chemical-endangerment law, a law which requires the prosecution of mothers abusing substances that might harm their children or fetuses.  She traces the cases and family backgrounds of several women impacted by this law.  She also provides background on both the groups supporting this law and fighting it. Beyond covering an issue of importance to the Foundation’s grantee, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, and extensively relying on information from its Executive Director Lynn Paltrow and  Director of Policy and Advocacy Emma Ketteringham, this article is remarkable for its exploration of the complexities around this law and the criminalization of several women who have used drugs during their pregnancies.  

It soon becomes clear that these are tough cases to get involved with because the women are not always that sympathetic; they can be bad mothers and they may be engaging in illegal activity.  On the other hand, the article exposes that these cases are often more complicated.  These women do seem to care about their children and they have often struggled with addiction so abandoning drugs during pregnancy proves quite difficult.   

Regardless of your feelings towards these women, one thing remains clear.   Advocates, like NAPW, continue to take on these critical cases because they are extremely important for defending women’s rights and fighting fetal personhood laws that have appeared around the country.  In fact,  

[Ms. Ketteringham] argues that applying Alabama’s chemical-endangerment law to pregnant women “violates constitutional guarantees of liberty, privacy, equality, due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.” In effect, she says, under Alabama’s chemical-endangerment law, pregnant women have become “a special class of people that should be treated differently from every other citizen.” 

They also argue that criminalizing these behaviors is neither appropriate for the families nor the health of women.  Alternative measures need to be created that respond in a way to encourage healthy behaviors rather than take away the rights of women in favor of fetuses.  We truly recommend you read this article.  It offers a nuanced examination of an extremely complicated set of issues that bring about these laws and why it is important to support NAPW’s challenge, despite personal feelings towards the mothers.  Again, to read the article, please click here.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules to Keep Unconstitutional Personhood Measure Off Ballot

This past month, the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a legal petition against efforts to put a personhood initiative onto the ballot in Oklahoma in November.  This week, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on this legal challenge upholding the constitution and earlier rulings of the US Supreme Court by unanimously deciding to bar putting this measure to a public vote.  This ballot initiative would have proposed giving a fertilized egg “personhood” and the affiliated rights that are afforded to a person.  Despite appearing in many US states over the past five years, these personhood measures have dangerous implications for the safety and rights of pregnant women and women seeking abortions or fertility treatments. It would have banned abortion under any circumstance, banned several contraceptive options and could create legal challenges for medical care providers serving pregnant women and the women seeking this health care. 

Many of Overbrook’s reproductive justice and domestic human rights grantees, including those listed above, have worked to defeat these measures through legal challenges (i.e. Oklahoma) or through grassroots mobilization and coalition building (i.e. Mississippi). We are glad to hear that the court has recognized the constitutional rights of Oklahoman women and that many organizations continue to successfully fight for the rights and health of American women in spite of these personhood strategies. For more information, click here to read an article from the Wall Street Journal, here to read an article from the Tulsa World, here to read the Center for Reproductive Rights’ press release on the victory and here for its description of the petition against ballot measure.  

US Human Rights Fund Launches New Racial Justice Website

The Overbrook Foundation is pleased to share the US Human Rights Fund’s news of the launch of a new website - www.racialjustice.org. This site includes resources and stories from human rights advocates present at the US Human Rights Fund’s We Shall Overcome: Using Human Rights to Achieve Racial Justice Convening held in Philadelphia last November. Not only does this site explain the human rights framework that united the interested funders, activists, artists and journalists who attended the meeting, but it also includes convening-related and external resources for those who are interested in learning more about the Human Rights movement in the United States. 

Highlighted stories from leaders in the field on the importance of human rights and their experiences with human rights-based campaigns also have a place on the site.  For example, leaders at NESRI, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the ACLU share their experience with using human rights frameworks. In addition, it draws attention to the story of the 2011 Human Rights Hero Award Winner, Jessica Lenahan. Ms. Lenahan is an American human rights defender who brought her case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to fight for government accountability for the human rights abuses she faced here in the United States.  (Her story was actually featured on this blog in November - click here to view it.)  

The organizations and the convening lessons covered on this site address a variety of issues that intersect with racial justice ranging from education reform to immigrant rights, from criminal justice reform to health care issues.  Despite this wide array of focuses, these individuals and their organizations see how their work can be connected through human rights.  They view the fight for racial justice in our country as a fight for the human rights of all. We hope you can check out www.racialjustice.org to explore and learn from the exciting tools and resources found on this new site!

Jay Naidoo writes about site visit to Cabo Pulmo

After threats to the natural environment in Cabo Pulmo from commercial fishing and the proposed construction of a resort by Spanish developers, local community members and NGOs were able to stop the destruction of their ocean resources by advocating for a marine preserve. This impressive example of local activism has not only moved Overbrook, it has also inspired Jay Naidoo to write an article about the preserve and the groups that advocated for it. Jay Naidoo has been involved with social justice movements both in his current position as the Chair of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and previously as the head of COSATU (Coalition of South African Trade Unions) in the years leading up to the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid. Mr. Naidoo, along with Overbrook Board Member Vincent McGee, visited this marine preserve as part of a group organized by Martin Goebel of Sustainable Northwest, and heard the local community advocates’ story of this remarkable campaign to protect this area.

This important narrative demonstrated a community successfully determining the type of development they wanted for themselves, particularly important given the existence of many such communities around the world without the experience of being heard. And, as a result, they have been able to preserve their local environment and ecosystems that are important to them, including recent outcomes like the return of coral and fish in great numbers. Despite initial challenges such as poor cooperation among NGOs, opposition from commercial interests and differing local visions for the marine area, this movement was able to succeed in creating the largest preserve in Mexico even in the face of powerful economic interests promoting the development projects. Reflecting on this visit, Mr. Naidoo draws upon his experience in South Africa when he argues that meaningful environmental or social changes that will positively affect lower income or marginalized communities must come from the grassroots rather than democratic laws or governments. He writes:

As the small community of Cabo Pulmo and others across the world know, there are very few in power that can be trusted to carry the interests of the people, especially the poor. And that is the lesson of modern democracy… A new apartheid has reared its head, violently, and we need to unite our communities in a shared solidarity of networks that recognise our interconnectedness to fight back. We need to link the community of Cabo Pulmo to those in Lake Turkana, in Kenya, where the fish are dying because of the impact of climate change. We need to connect the shack dwellers of Mexico City to those of Diepsloot outside Johannesburg and Mumbai in India.

I encourage you to read the article, which is published at the Daily Maverick and is accessible by click here. Mr. Naidoo does a terrific job explaining this case study and how the success in the Cabo Pulmo conservation efforts can help others to become active agents in local decisions regarding development, social structures and conservation. In the past, Overbrook has supported Pronatura Noroeste A.C. for its work to help conservation in Cabo Pulmo, in large part because our Board and Staff recognized the importance of supporting community and NGO partnerships that have the power to work together to achieve such marine conservation victories. As Mr. Naidoo suggests, Overbrook staff hopes that successful local models can be replicated across the world.