Dear friends and colleagues, [~Para Español, ver enlace al final~]
This message is to share some news about a book, Selvas Tropicales, authored by Rhett Butler, Jenny Jacobs, and myself. The book is written in Spanish and provides an overview about tropical rainforests, why they are important, and what is happening to them. The book is geared towards students ages 10 and above, and is especially useful for Spanish-speaking youth or Spanish-learners who are also interested in tropical rainforests. It can also be a useful resource for students participating in tropical biology courses and similar study-abroad programs in Latin America, as it may help communicate concepts and ideas with other students and local people in Spanish. We have set up a website, http://selvastropicales.org/, to disseminate part of the book contents and additional educational material. The home page includes excerpts from the book. The following link provides a brief description in English: http://selvastropicales.org/eng/ A similar edition of the book is available in English, and is based in Mongabay's popular website for young readers: Rainforests. We also included a page where we will upload material for educators (in English and Spanish). Currently, teachers, students, and other interested people may download a presentation (in both languages) to use in the classroom or other settings. A major goal of this project is to circulate the books widely to young people (or schools) who may not have the financial resources to buy them. To meet this goal, we have set up a page where visitors can donate a book copy to a local school: http://selvastropicales.org/help-students/ (This page describes how donations are used to cover the cost of producing the books, delivering the books to the schools, and a very small fraction covers the maintenance of the website, which is associated with Mongabay.org. Mongabay.org is a public charity focused on raising awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems.) We have donated book copies to several elementary schools in Northern California, and additional copies will be distributed in Peru in mid-2014. Please help us disseminate this news. We hope that, with your help, additional copies can be delivered to more schools in 2014! Best regards, Rudi von May, Jenny Jacobs, and Rhett Butler Para ver esta información en Español, por favor sigue este enlace: http://selvastropicales.org/educators/