Basic Organization Information
Conservation Through Poverty Alleviation International, Inc.
- Also Known As:
-
C.P.A.L.I.
- Physical Address:
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Lincoln, MA
01773 5100
- EIN:
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87-0713649
- Web URL:
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www.cpali.org
- Blog URL:
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Facebook CPALI Madag...
- NTEE Category:
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C Environmental Quality Protection, Beautification
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C30 Natural Resource Conservation and Protection
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C Environmental Quality Protection, Beautification
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C30 Natural Resource Conservation and Protection
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U Science and Technology Research Institutes
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U20 Science, General (includes Interdisciplinary Scientific Activities)
- Year Founded:
-
2003
- Ruling Year:
-
2004
- How This Organization Is Funded:
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Private donors - $38,000
-
Rufford Small Grants for Conservation Foundation - $16,000
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Mission Statement
The CPALI mission is to contribute to natural resource
conservation by developing integrated, small-scale enterprise systems that link
the livelihoods of farm families and communities to maintaining natural ecosystems.
Malagasy farmers traditionally employ tavy (slash and burn agriculture)
to maintain crop yields. This practice is causing severe environmental damage
as the rural population grows and as farms encroach on remaining primal
forests. Improved farming methods can help curb tavy but do not directly invest
farmers in maintaining the ecosystems on whose services they depend. CPALI
guides rural farmers to maintain native ecosystems by introducing sustainable
production of wild silk. We select and sequence native silk worm species and
native plants to match the economic needs of the farmers and the landscape
needs of the region.
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Impact Statement from Nonprofit
CPALI is showing that a
well-designed enterprise can create economic, social and environmental
resilience that mitigates the impacts of climate change. We are charting the
first steps of a unique program that can be replicated throughout the
developing world. Its local
ecological effects will be to decrease erosion, enhance water quality, build
border forest value and initiate reforestation in abandoned pastures. We have
already linked rural farmers to a world market and are helping them take first
steps out of poverty to financial independence. We are teaching women how to
make non-spun textiles and papers, hence creating opportunities and jobs for
women where none previously existed. Farmers who plant 200 trees in which to rear silk producing larvae can increase their average income by 30% after two years. When other
members of the farmers’ family participate in product finishing, income gains
will increase between 200-300%.
Revenue and Expenses
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Financial Statements
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Chief Executive
Dr. Catherine Craig
Term:
Since
Jan
2003
Chief Executive Profile:
Catherine L. Craig founded CPALI in 2002 and is its current President and Chief Executive Officer. She is also a Research Associate at Harvard University?s Museum of Comparative Zoology. Previously she was an Associate Professor of Biology at Yale University where her academic research dealt with the ecology and evolution of spiders and silk proteins. She left Yale in 1995 to pursue an independent career in scientific research and conservation, the latter motivated by her observations of the degradation of habitats where she worked. Her awards and honors include fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute and the American Association of University Woman. She is the author of the book "Spider webs and silk: tracking evolution from molecules to genes to phenotypes" published by Oxford University Press in 2003 and over 40 papers in refereed journals. She is currently working on a popular book, Spider Silk: following a thread through 400 million years of evolution whose goal is to dispel the public fear of spiders while revealing what they can teach us about evolutionary biology. She holds a BS from Stanford University, an MS from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Ecology and Systematics from Cornell University.
CEO/Executive Director Statement:
Despite the recent political strife, economic
instability and looting of Madagascar’s rich forest resources, CPALI is
continuing to expand its project in the Northeastern part of Madagascar. The
specific area in which CPALI works has been affected economically but to date,
the border forests and western Makira Protected Area remain in tact for which
we are grateful. With foreign aid to Madagascar frozen, the CPALI program,
funded largely by private donations, has become increasingly important to
developing a conservation program that can withstand political and economic
instability. I am pleased to report that CPALI completed its pilot project – from research to
product identification to implemented production and finally export. In October we held our first workshop to train trainers how to produce wild silk paper and textiles. Currently we are working to develop new markets in home furnishings and accessories for our unique silk products.
Officers for Fiscal Year
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Highest Paid Employees & Their Compensation
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Program:
Textile production training
- Budget:
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$5,000
- Category:
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Environment
- Population Served:
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Poor/Economically Disadvantaged, Indigent, General
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Female Adults
Program Description:
CPALI designed is a
unique, non-spun textile. These unique textiles have been produced by the CPALI program and are unique to all international markets. Furthermore, not only are our textiles non-spun, they are distinguished from current
Malagasy silks by their lightweight (fibers are porous), lustrous sheen and
diverse, natural colors (light gold to deep bronze). The non-spun textile, unlike spun textiles, can be produced by unskilled labor for curtains and screens, many
of the same uses as silk paper, but unlike paper it can be washed. When grade A
cocoons are crafted into textiles made by skilled embroiderers, they are
transformed to high-end fashion materials. Unlike spun silk, the upfront costs
of non-spun silk textile production are minimal.
Program Long-Term Success:
CPALI programs are implemented in sites where popular aid
plans, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing countries
program or the REDD plan, are inaccessible to communities without financial
infra-structure. Hence, we have demonstrated that we are able to work where
other programs are ineffective, particularly during political upheavals, and
are working to lift farmers from a subsistence lifestyle. Our long term goal is
to implement the CPALI program in the poorest countries of the world where
people’s lives are critically linked to environments in which they live. We aim
to create opportunities where none existed previously.
Program Short-Term Success:
Program Success Monitored by:
Program Success Examples:
Funding Needs
CPALI invites equity partners or investors to generate
$500,000 to bring the CPALI program to scale and to have the conservation and
poverty alleviation effects it anticipates. CPALI’s business plan has three
stages to bring the program to sustainability. In the first, current, stage we
will continue to build our network of farmers, and continue to grow external
markets for silk products in tandem with the increasing supply of wild silk. In
the next stage, the involvement by foreign advisors and consultants will
diminish as an all-Malagasy team of managers, trainers, and business partners grows
to spread the project into other parts of Madagascar that can also take
advantage of the economic returns that accrue from this unique product. In the
third stage, CPALI will seek to replicate its work in other regions of the
world that can benefit from a similar, enterprise-based approach to
conservation through poverty alleviation. A detailed project
budget is available upon request.
Volunteer Needs
We are looking for volunteers who can help us implement new monitoring programs of the effects of the CPALI project on neighboring farms. In particular we would like to monitor wild bees.
Request for In-Kind Contributions
We greatly need in-kind support to develop our business, new product designs, marketing and arts training in Madagascar. We also need assistance with fund raising.