2011 ForestEthics Annual Report

ForestEthics Because protecting forests is everyone’s business.

ForestEthics Because protecting forests is everyone’s business.

2011 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPOR T

2011 Highlights In the past year, we continued to fight the uphill battle with incredible results. From convincing huge corporations to take action related to toxic tar sands and deceitful “green” labels, to making progress towards preserving some of Canada’s wild places, we continue to make the impossible possible.

By the close of 2011, we had convinced 14 major brands— including Comcast, U.S. Bank, and Allstate—to commit to move their brands away from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) phony forest certification seal. This work is critical because greenwash like the SFI covers up destructive logging practices and gives customers a false sense of security. SFI certifies more than 100 million acres of forests in North America, and is owned and operated by the logging industry. We believe customers deserve the security of independent third-party certification.

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Stop SFI Greenwash

Tar Sands Canada

In 2011 the Canadian arm of our Tar Sands campaign coalesced an unprecedented level of public opposition to the Enbridge Corporation’s Northern Gateway Project, a proposed pipeline which would introduce crude oil supertankers to the world renowned shorts of the Great Bear Rainforest, threaten the fresh water supply and salmon bearing streams of dozens of northern communcities, and and lock North American into a dirty energy future. We’ve brought an international spotlight to the threat posed by this pipeline by garnering press in outlets as far-reaching as The Economist, National Geographic, Outside magazine and The Globe and Mail.

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Great Bear Rainforest

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Sacred Headwaters During the summer of 2011, our international Get the Shell Out online petition amassed more than 60,000 signatures in less than three weeks. This wasn’t just noteworthy to us – it caught the eye of Shell Canada’s CEO, who met with us a few weeks later. As a direct result of our meeting, she made unprecedented statements regarding Shell’s conditions for abandoning its planned coal-bed methane drilling in British Columbia’s Sacred Headwaters. It’s a region so stunning that John Muir called it the “Canada’s Yosemite”. Prior to this meeting, Shell had never indicated that abandoning its plans was even a possibility.

Throughout 2011 , we worked to develop a joint proposal with some of the biggest logging companies in British Columbia to help take the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements to the next level by achieving full Ecosystem Based Management (EBM). EBM revolutionizes forestry by prioritizing what needs to be maintained for ecosystem integrity, as well as human well-being. EBM has never been applied at this large scale anywhere in the world. We also exposed TimberWest for its unsustainable logging in the Southern end of the Great Bear Rainforest, prompting the company to commit to cooperate with the other logging corporations in working towards a sustainable solution.

Keep LEED Strong

Stopping US Demand for Tar Sands In December, our Tar Sands campaign scored its greatest victory yet by convincing Chiquita to avoid trucking its products with fuels from tar sands refineries. This announcement set off a massive controversy in Canada and earned extensive coverage, including stories in the Financial Times, Mother Jones, and Forbes.com. We’ve now convinced 16 companies to publicly confirm action they have taken in their transportation footprint related to Canada’s tar sands.

Some of trader joe’S beSt valueS

aren’t found on itS ShelveS. For example, the commitment to avoid shipping products with extremely toxic and dirty fuels from places like Canada’s Tar Sands. Transporting all of the food and products that we buy to the shelves of our local stores consumes an enormous amount of energy. And all shipping fuels, i.e., gasoline and diesel, are not equal. In fact, the Tar Sands are a source of extreme energy that is used to make shipping fuels – giant strip mines visible from space are used to produce a synthetic form of oil that destroys forests, endangers wildlife, including endangered caribou, and has a higher toxic and global warming footprint than traditional oil. Worse still, US and Canadian communities are facing health threats because of toxic pollution from Tar Sands operations, including pipelines and refineries. All of which are great reasons to avoid the Tar Sands if you are a values driven company. Trader Joe’s joins nearly 20 other major companies who similarly have distanced themselves from Canada’s Tar Sands. That’s a good market trend for the planet.

Congratulations to Trader Joe’s for putting its values first to eliminate its use of extreme energy like Canada’s Tar Sands.

info@forestethics.org | 360-734-2951 forestethics.org | facebook.com/forestethics | twitter.com/forestethics

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In September 2011, we mounted a coordinated effort with our allies to exert pressure on the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to maintain the strength of its globally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard for building. The USGBC was considering changes that would allow virtually any wood – regardless of how its source-forests are managed – to earn credits toward LEED certification. This would move green building demand away from products that help protect forests. What ForestEthics did, which included running the above ad in the Toronto Star, organizing public actions at the Greenbuild conference, and engaging more than 4,000 supporters to take online actions, helped the USGBC agree to take the unprecedented step of entering a third draft and comment period before the LEED 2012 standards are released.

Boreal In 2011, we convened three meetings of the Boreal Business Forum (BBF), a group of 14 major companies with a combined market value of $140 billion. Those companies, including Limited Brands, Office Depot, Staples, and Lowe’s. The BBF, and the tremendous buying power that it represents, are our best tool for securing the implementation of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement — the largest conservation initiative in the world.

2011 Financials Audited financials for the year ending December 31, 2011

Revenue

2011 Revenue Breakdown

Foundation Grants

2,387,663

Contributions from Individuals

227,653

Program Revenue (fee for service)

100,000

Other Revenue

93,674

FOUNDATION SUPPORT 85%

TOTAL SUPPORT AND REVENUE

2,808,990

Expenditures

Program Services Boreal Forest Campaign

250,977

BC Forests Campaign

356,158

Tar Sands Campaign

711,627

Sacred Headwaters Campaign

338,936

Paper Campaign

172,643

Stop SFI Greenwash Campaign

247,141

OTHER 3% PROGRAM REVENUE 4%

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS 8%

TOTAL PROGRAM SERVICES 2,077,482

Support Services

General & Administrative

187,545

Fundraising

479,023

2011 Expense Breakdown ADMINISTRATION 8%

TOTAL SUPPORT SERVICES

666,568

TOTAL EXPENDITURES

2,744,050

Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets

64,940

DEVELOPMENT 17%

Net Assets-Beginning of Year 1,083,131

1,148,071

Net Asset (End of Year)

CAMPAIGNS & PROGRAMS 75%

Staff & Board SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Kayla Henson

BOARD

Todd Paglia, J.D., L.L.M.

Administrative and Campaign Associate

Andrea Leebron Clay, Board Chair Kevin Johnson, President James Clay, Treasurer Michael Uehara, Secretary Marika Holmgren Stuart Sender Anne Kroeker angel Kyodo williams Neal Gorenflo

Executive Director

Mary Humphries

Kristi Chester Vance

Director of Development

Deputy Director

Valerie Langer

Pierre Iachetti

Director of BC Forests Campaign

Conservation Director

Jason Paglia

Aaron Sanger

Assistant, New Media and Material Manager

Director, US Campaigns

Claire Richards

Matt Westendorf

Development Associate

Claire Rosenfeld

Chief Operating Officer

Online Communications Coordinator

Melyssa Rubino

STAFF

Campaign and Administrative Associate

Jim Ace Stop SFI Greenwash Campaigner

Jolan Bailey Canadian Outreach Coordinator

Matt Brown

Rangan Sanguanchaiyakit Accountant

Nikki Skuce Senior Energy Campaigner

Samantha Stanley

Director of Communications

Online Specialist

Stephen Danner

Geeta Tate

Senior Development Officer

Grant Writer

Max Fleisher Database and Office Administrator

Karen Tam Wu Senior Conservation Campaigner

Adam Gaya

Paras Upadhyay

Organizer, US Campaigns

Senior Accountant

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