April 2005

Wildlife and Wine?

More than 20 million acres are devoted to vineyards globally. In addition to providing quality wines for our enjoyment, much of this land is of critical importance to wildlife. Canopy is exploring opportunities to complement some of the incredible efforts in the wine industry that seek to promote wildlife-compatible vineyard operations. Innovation, commitment to the natural environment, and a close connection with the land have led to some inspirational efforts by wine grape growers in California and elsewhere, and we are very excited to be involved in the dialogue with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, IUCN, the California Association of Winegrape Growers and others. Watch this space!

February 2005

Chris Morgan and Andy Hoffman (Canopy co-founders) to speak at University of Michigan

Chris Morgan has accepted an invitation to join Andy Hoffman at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business (University of Michigan) in April to give a talk titled, 'The Intersection of Business and Biology: Lions, Tigers and Bristol Myers Squibb, Oh My!'. The talk will focus upon the ways in which the needs of wildlife and business can be pursued in synchrony through organizations such as Canopy. The school has long been recognized as one of the world's leading business institutions, having trained 37,000 business leaders in nearly 100 countries.

January 2005

Canopy provides grant to researcher in Argentina and contributes to grizzly bear poster

Thanks to a contribution from one of our donors Canopy was able to provide a small grant to Mauro Lucherini for his work on the little known Geoffrey's cat in Argentina. The grant will be used to purchase radio collars for this important project. To read more about Dr Lucherini's work click here. Part of the same donation also helped the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) produce a new educational poster (www.bearinfo.org). To make a tax-deductible donation to a specific wildlife or community education project, please contact Chris Morgan.

December 2003

Canopy assists IUCN with corporate perceptions study

Canopy is currently assisting IUCN (The World Conservation Union)* with research regarding corporate perceptions, issues, knowledge, objectives and level of engagement with non-government organizations and biodiversity conservation. The work is helping IUCN to assess the present and potential role of business in the realm of biodiversity conservation.

Our sincere thanks to those companies that have participated in Canopy's research to date, which include The Boeing Company, Mutual of Omaha, Photosafaris, Starbucks, Oracle Corporation, Washington Mutual, Skanska AB, Hewlett Packard, and Thanksgiving Coffee. As this work proceeds further we will be posting more information here.

*IUCN (The World Conservation Union), is a 55-year-old science-based network of members that includes 140 countries, 100 government agencies, 750 NGOs, and 10,000 internationally recognized scientists and experts from 180 countries. They seek ways to maintain the diversity of nature, and sustainable use of natural resources.

December 2003

Canopy contributes to bear research projects

Thanks to a contribution from one of our donors Canopy was able to provide funding donations to two bear research projects in December, 2003.

The first project is documenting the distribution and status of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) in Iran. The project hopes to estimate the total number of bears, bear densities, and the importance of potential threats to bears (poaching, deforestation, etc.) in different areas. The is the first work of its kind in Iran. More information coming soon.

The second project focuses on sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) in Sri Lanka. For the first time in Sri Lanka bears are being radio collared and monitored to provide information on the status and distribution of this illusive species. To date, 10 bears have been captured in Wasgomuwa National Park and the work has resulted in some very interesting observations, and much attention from local communities. Bear densities seem to be quite high, but unfortunately, so is the level of poaching that is evident. We will be posting more information here as the project evolves.