Reserva: The Youth Land Trust - Capacity Building

We are Reserva: the Youth Land Trust, a new global youth organization with a bold and actionable plan to save endangered species, protect critical rainforest habitat, and empower a generation of young people who care deeply about bringing our planet back into balance. While the world finally sees that young people are worth listening to, we're here to prove that youth have financial power as well, and they will wield it for the planet if offered the platform. 

(Spoiler alert: the first step of our plan is in this video!)  

We aim to create the world's first entirely youth-funded nature reserve, harnessing the power of youth connectivity on social media and in the classroom. With the experience and support of our project partners Rainforest Trust and Fundación Ecominga, we will be protecting a breathtaking 1219-acre parcel in the Ecuadorian Chocó rainforest known for its orchids and replete with endangered species, beloved rainforest animals, and entirely new species to science.

But we need YOUR support to make this happen. Our creative youth empowerment, educational, and storytelling campaigns are important pillars of Reserva's mission, and funding these operations is our immediate priority. While our global youth community is committed to achieving this historic feat in Ecuador, we are asking everyone over 26 years old—"grown-ups," businesses, and children-at-heart—to support our Kickoff Campaign! 

We have big plans, and this first reserve is just the start—I hope you'll be a part of this adventure by making a Kickoff Campaign donation today. See below for more details!

Thank you,

Callie Broaddus
Founder & CEO
Reserva: The Youth Land Trust
reservaylt.org

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Our Mission:

We create youth-funded nature reserves to protect biodiversity, fight climate change, and to elevate the status of young people as environmental change-makers. We educate youth around the world on the importance of habitat and biodiversity and empower them with this platform for action. We find creative solutions to engage youth living near each project we undertake, to ensure they benefit from and are recognized for their role as stewards of the land.

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Photo by Sean Graesser in the Chocó Rainforest. 

PROGRAMS IN BRIEF
The following 2019 programs will be supported by our Kickoff Campaign, in addition to various administrative costs. If you have any specific budgetary questions, we'll be happy to answer them.

Youth Council:
Reserva's most important resource is our Youth Council. Currently made up of 35 diverse international young people from 10 countries, the Youth Council members play a wide variety of roles, depending on their expertise. From eight years old to 26, from Kenya to the UK and of course Ecuador, members are Reserva's links to the global youth community. Meet some of our members on our instagram page at @reservaylt.

Expedition 2019 & Short Film Pre-Production: 
EcoMinga conducted an expedition last year to assess and monitor the health biodiversity of this site. Scientists made many discoveries over the course of five days, including new orchid, frog, salamander, and forest mouse species. This September (so soon!), a team of scientists will be returning for another four-five day survey. Reserva will be sending a three-person storytelling team to support the expedition, train local scientists in photography, and to begin preliminary shooting and preproduction for a planned short film about our initiative.

In addition to the scientific survey, Reserva and EcoMinga will be visiting the three local communities of Ecuadorian and indigenous youth for a biodiversity and stewardship education event.

Photo by Sean Graesser in the Chocó Rainforest. The Critically Endangered brown-headed spider monkey is one of the most important inhabitants of the site our young people will protect.

1 Million Letters Campaign:
We believe that most young people in the U.S. will be able to give $3 or more to our projects, but many youth worldwide cannot. However, they can write a letter. We are asking young people around the world to write letters describing what they love about nature, and asking world governments to protect our remaining wild places. Then, we are asking donors to support each kid's letter contribution with a financial match of $3/each.

We intend to bring these letters to the 2020 Convention on Biological Diversity—essentially the Paris Climate Talks for wildlife and the natural world. This is storytelling in its most endearing and elemental form, and it is our hope that these letters will soften hearts and change minds. This campaign is about making sure that all young people—especially those in developing nations, underserved communities, and those living near our reserves—benefit from the empowerment that Reserva's projects offer.

[NOTE: While these donations will ultimately go through Rainforest Trust (see below under Partners), the Kickoff Campaign supports the operations behind this, i.e. a P.O. Box, digital letter submission web functionality, dropbox for image storage, etc.] 

Educator Campaign:
While Reserva aims to empower advocates for the planet, we feel it is just as important to create informed advocates.  Currently, Reserva's qualified educators are writing multi-grade lesson plans for a 3–5 day unit on Habitat & Biodiversity Conservation, which will be provided for free in English and Spanish on our website. The lesson plans will introduce grade-appropriate information on habitat and biodiversity, the challenges that threaten both, and the current solutions.

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A Note From the Founder:

Hi, my name is Callie Broaddus. I grew up on a small farm in rural Virginia—in a sea of green—but now live in the heart of Washington, D.C. 

I have spent the last nearly seven years designing books at National Geographic Kids, working as a wildlife photographer and journalist in my spare time. Then, in 2018, I was asked to join the Rainforest Trust Council. Utterly humbled, I began brainstorming a way to merge my passions for wildlife, storytelling, and education in order to better support land conservation. In the summer of 2018, I landed on the concept of a fully youth-funded nature reserve—something that had never been done before, that had potential to inspire world leaders, that would excite and empower young people, and that would fight both climate change and biodiversity loss. 

With advice from colleagues at National Geographic and the knowledgable staff at Rainforest Trust, I expanded this original nugget of an idea to form Reserva: the Youth Land Trust—a group meant to recognize that young people have more than just a voice; they have financial power, and they can wield it for the planet if given the platform. 

I know this to be the case because I witnessed it first hand in 2014, when my little sister lost a tragic five-month battle against cancer. A few weeks before her birthday, she asked if we could establish a fund that she would use to fight climate change from her hospital bed. She set a goal of raising $18,000 by her 18th birthday, and my family figured out the logistics of setting up a fund. By her birthday, she had raised nearly $70,000. Today, Finley's Green Leap Forward Fund has awarded over $200,000 in grants to organizations fighting climate change, and it continues to grow. All because one kid had a platform to act.

It is my hope that through Reserva's land purchase projects and education and storytelling campaigns, every young person will feel the same level of empowerment that my sister experienced five years ago. I believe that young people, if given the platform, can save the world. And I believe that Reserva could be that platform.

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OUR PARTNERS

Kickoff Campaign | GEOS Foundation
Starting a nonprofit takes time, so we've partnered with an established U.S. 501(c)3 organization to ensure all of your donations are tax deductible. The Global Exploration and Oceanographic Society, otherwise known as the GEOS Foundation, is a not-for-profit charity whose  mission is to conserve at-risk species and places in their natural environments. We are so excited to have a partner whose mission is so well aligned with our own. You can learn more about GEOS and the other projects they support on their website .

Youth Funding (not applicable to this GoFundMe) | Rainforest Trust:
With over 23,000,000 acres protected in their 30 years, Rainforest Trust is one of the most trusted names in habitat conservation. As a fundraising partner on our reserve projects, Rainforest Trust will receive and process all youth-generated funds (including those matched through the One Million Letters Campaign). Thanks to the generous support of their board, Rainforest Trust is able to direct 100% of every dollar Reserva's youth community raises to our land conservation projects. You can learn more about Rainforest Trust and their ongoing projects on their website. 

In-Country Partner | Fundación EcoMinga:
Already a proven conservation partner with Rainforest Trust, EcoMinga is the in-country partner on our first youth-funded reserve in Ecuador, as well as for all of our youth empowerment, conservation, and storytelling initiatives near the site. Upon successful completion of the project, EcoMinga will add this reserve to their existing network of nature reserves in the Andean Chocó. You can see exciting updates from the field and learn more about EcoMinga on their website.

These photos are by Sean Graesser, taken in the Chocó Rainforest. You can see more stories from the Chocó at @gourmetbiologist on Instagram.