This is My Earth (TiME) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving biodiversity by using crowdsourcing to purchase lands in biodiversity hotspots. TiME was established in 2015 by Prof. Uri Shanas of the University of Haifa at Oranim, who continues to act as TiME's CEO. The organization is advised by an international team of scientists and environmental activists. TiME functions as a democracy in which every member, regardless of the amount of their donation, has an equal vote to determine which of the scientifically vetted conservation projects proposed each year is allocated the annual crowdfunded grant. The organization's goal is to preserve biodiversity hotspots and to curb the Sixth Extinction, which is mainly caused by human activity.
History TiME was founded in 2015 by Professor Uri Shanas, who was soon thereafter joined by Professor Alon Tal of Tel Aviv University to co-lead the organization. Both are noted scholars and environmental activists. TiME capitalized on the rise in popularity of crowdfunding and the increasing internet access worldwide to found an organization in which even small donors can take an active role to protect biodiversity. TiME raised US$35,515 on Indiegogo by August 13, 2015. 819 people from over 40 countries donated. This initial seed money was used to establish a basic organizational infrastructure, register as a non-profit, expand the Scientific Advisory Committee, set up an active Facebook page, and build a website. In its first year, TiME had over one thousand members. Over its first seven years, with the support of its generous members, This is My Earth successfully purchased eight plots of land in biodiversity hotspots for conservation. Its first land purchase, in 2016, was in the El Toro forest, Peru, which lies at the heart of the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot. TiME transferred it to Mr. Isidoro Lozano, a community member of Yambrasbamba Campesino Community in La Esperanza, who works in conjunction with the local Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Peru to protect the land. The El Toro forest campaign, designed to purchase land in the Peruvian Amazon to protect the habitat of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), managed to raise US$30,000. In 2017, TiME bought land to expand the Sun Angel's Gardens reserve in Peru. The reserve's biodiversity, including the Near Threatened royal sunangel hummingbird (Heliangelus regalis) and the Endangered white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth), was particularly vulnerable to illegal loggers, hunters and squatters because of its horseshoe shape. TiME's purchase of 700 hectares for US$17,000 inside the U-shape of the reserve was transferred to the local indigenous community of La Primavera and the local NGO, Asociación Neotropical Primate Conservation Peru, to ensure the conservation of the land. TiME's purchase of a 5-acre plot in Turneffe Atoll, Belize, in 2018 protected part of a global ecological hotspot for marine biodiversity. Turneffe Atoll faces numerous threats because of its close proximity to Belize City, especially unsustainable fishing practices, development and dredging, and the extraction of non-timber products. Some of the threatened species now protected in this habitat are the Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate) and the Vulnerable goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara). TiME's local partner to protect this area is Turneffe Atoll Trust. The threatened Tumbes–Chocó–Magdalena biodiversity hotspot in Colombia was the site of TiME's 2019 land purchase. The 58-hectare plot of land bought for US$70,000, expanded the El Silencio reserve, managed by TiME's local partner, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia. An expanded reserve offers more habitat to protect threatened species, like the Critically Endangered blue-billed curassow (Crax alberti) and the Critically Endangered brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus), and increases the reserve's financial sustainability by making it more attractive to tourists and researchers. 2020 was a milestone for This is My Earth because it raised sufficient funds (nearly US$200,000) to purchase two plots of land in two vastly different biodiversity hotspots. TiME's 300-acre purchase in the Dakatcha Woodland of Kenya, in the East African Coastal Forests hotspot, protected—among other threatened species—the Endangered Clarke's weaver (Ploceus golandi), which nests only in this particular area of the world. TiME's local partner for this project is Nature Kenya—the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS). TiME also purchased 84 acres in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, allowing its local partner, Instituto Uiraçu, to expand the Serra Bonita Reserve. Among the threatened species now protected in Serra Bonita are the Critically Endangered buff-headed capuchin (Sapajus xanthosternos) and the Critically Endangered banded cotinga (Cotinga maculata), as well as predators that require larger territories, like the puma (Puma concolor) and the Vulnerable harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). In 2021, TiME protected land in the iconic Maasai Mara ecosystem, which has the highest density of wildlife in Kenya, purchasing 20 acres in partnership with the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya. The acquisition of this land creates a migratory corridor and habitat for wildlife, including the Critically Endangered Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicorn) and the Endangered Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi). The Chocó Forest in Ecuador is the site of This Is My Earth's eighth land purchase in 2022. Partnering with Fundación Jocotoco, TiME purchased 65 hectares of rainforest, helping to protect the Critically Endangered great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) and the Endangered brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps), among other threatened species.
List of success stories El Toro Forest (2016, Peru) Sun Angel's Garden (2017, Peru) Turneffe Atoll (2018, Belize) Magdalena Valley (2019, Colombia) Serra Bonita (2020, Brazil) Dakatcha Woodland (2020, Kenya) Maasai Mara (2021, Kenya) Choco Forest (2022, Ecuador)
Funding TiME raises funds on two different platforms for two purposes:
Crowdfunding TiME uses crowdfunding to buy land for conservation. All funds raised through its website goes towards a land purchase and long-term conservation. Funds are allocated based on an annual voting system, in which every donor receives one vote to cast for their preferred conservation project.
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