The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations. Through fiscal sponsorship, it provides the administrative and organizational framework for many individual projects that would otherwise be duplicating administrative requirements. It is based in Berkeley, California.
Some of the projects have enjoyed significant success: a consumer-led boycott resulted in 100% of American tuna becoming dolphin safe. The Earth Island Institute also provides dolphin safe certification for canned tuna producers.
The Mangrove Action Project was originally part of the Earth Island Institute, but became a separate organization in March 2007.
Earth Island has presented the Brower Youth Awards, named for founder David Brower, to six young environmental leaders since 2000.
Earth Island Journal has been published by the institute for 20 years. It includes environmental reporting and commentary from around the world.
Read more about Earth Island Institute: The Borneo Project
Famous quotes containing the words earth, island and/or institute:
“Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)
“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles & organising it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)