Only Environmental Group With Chance to Win $50,000 Contest Fights for Survival

Jan. 11, 2008 - PRLog -- 20 years ago a small classroom of kids in Sweden decided to raise money to protect rainforest by holding a bake sale.  Today, over 54,000 acres have been sucessfully protected in what is now the largest private preserve in Central America.  This land is known as the Children's Eternal Rainforest.  Supporters of the cause are fighting to survive as the only remaining environmental organization that has a chance to win a $50,000 award.  The contest is called the Causes Giving Challenge, and is sponsored by Facebook and the Case Foundation.  It runs through February 1, 2008, and awards the non-profit group that gets the most individual donations with the grand prize.

Supporters of the Children's Eternal Rainforest are excited for the opportunity to save endangered tree frogs living in their preserve.  If they win the grand prize, the money will be used to help protect a species of frog that was thought extinct - Lithobates vibicarius.  A new population of this frog was recently found by researchers in the preserve.  This discovery has given activists new hope that the fight against global warming and loss of biodiversity can be won.

Environmental children's book author and illustrator Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini entered the group into the contest, inspired by the release of her latest book, The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure (Dawn Publications, 2008).  The book tells the true story of how the Children's Eternal Rainforest was created.

"Concern for the Children's Eternal Rainforest inspired me to make my first book," Kristin says.  "I hope this contest inspires a new generation of environmental leaders.  I've learned to never underestimate the power of motivated youth. With this contest, Facebook just 'friended' the forest."

Rachel Crandell, the founder of Monteverde Conservation League, U.S. says "Participants in this contest are helping ensure the endangered animals in the Children's Eternal Rainforest will be protected forever."

The Children's Eternal Rainforest Cause page can be viewed here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/53587

The Causes Giving Challenge leader board can be found here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/giving

About the Children's Eternal Rainforest
Swedish school children started a worldwide effort in 1987 by sending money to Monteverde, Costa Rica to purchase rain forest and protect its priceless natural treasures forever. Today children from 44 nations have helped The Children's Eternal Rainforest (http://www.mclus.org) become the largest private reserve in Central America, 54,000 acres.

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About MCLUS:
Monteverde Conservation League US, Inc., founded in April 2002, was formed primarily to support the work and programs of the Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) in Monteverde, Costa Rica which owns and maintains 54,000+ acres of the Bosque Eterno de Los Niños (Children’s Eternal Rain Forest). Our goal is to aid the MCL and other organizations in their efforts "to support the conservation and rehabilitation of tropical ecosystems and their biodiversity."

Website: www.mclus.org