Sunday, October 23, 2011

orangutans in crisis: a worldwide interactive video forum on the web for Nov. 12, 2011


Orangutans in Crisis

Alive, open, worldwide interactive video forum on the Internet for one hour

Come join us for an exciting new initiative that lets an audience on the Internet interact live with speakers.

Questions for consideration: What is the situation inside Indonesia now politically and socially in terms of protecting orangutans and the rain forest? What is being done to spread the word? What could we be doing? What is the current status of orangutans?

Listen to speakers, ask questions, give your own point of view by voice or instant messaging.
Saturday, Nov 12, 2011 for one hour only (for those in North America, Europe and Africa; Sunday, Nov. 13 in Australia and Southeast Asia)

Starting times around the world: 5 p.m. Saturday eastern time (U.S.); 4 p.m. Saturday central time (U.S.); 3 p.m. Saturday mountain time (U.S.); 2 p.m. Saturday Pacific time (U.S.); 6 p.m. Saturday Brasilia, Brazil;10 p.m. Saturday London, England; 11 p.m. Saturday Barcelona, Spain; 11 p.m. Saturday Berlin, Germany; 11 p.m. Saturday Cape Town, South Africa; 12 a.m. Sunday Helsinki, Finland; 2 a.m. Sunday New Delhi, India; 4 a.m. Sunday Jakarta, Indonesia; 5 a.m. Sunday Perth, Australia; 5 a.m. Sunday Singapore; 5 a.m. Sunday Shanghai, China; 5 a.m. Sunday Beijing, China; 5 a.m. Sunday Singapore; 8 a.m. Sunday Sydney, Australia. 

Join the speakers, Gary Shapiro, an orangutan scientist and the president of the Orang Utan Republik, just back from Indonesia; Leif Cocks, head of the Australian Orangutan Project; and Hardi Baktiantoro, an orangutan campaigner and the head of Centre for Orangutan Protection in Indonesia.

moderator: Shawn Thompson, author of The Intimate Ape: Orangutans and the Secret Life of an Endangered Species

Part of the purpose of this forum is to foster a community of people communicating with each around the world to work together to save orangutans. This will be the first interactive video web forum in this series at www.bigmarker.com. Ideas for future broadcasts include hearing from leading ape scientists, conservationists and campaigners, like Marc Ancrenaz in Borneo, live video tours of different ape sanctuaries around the world, and a special session on musicians, music and apes. Other forums can be organized on topics of your choice.

You can reach the moderator and organizer Shawn Thompson at www.bigmarker.com/orangutan or intimateape@hotmail.com

The Orang Utan Republik is a non-profit organization working at the grass-roots level in Indonesia to create an awareness within the country about orangutans. 

The Australian Orangutan Project is a non-profit organization headed by Leif Cocks that raises money for its own projects and many other projects such as: Nyaru Menteng, Orangutan Care and Quarantine Centre, PanEco, Sumatran Orangutan Society, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Orang Utan Republik, Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Program, International Animal Rescue, and Centre for Orangutan Protection. For more information on these projects visit www.orangutan.org.au

The Centre for Orangutan Protection is "a direct-action group of Indonesian people who campaign to bring an urgent end to the destruction of our rain forests and the killing of orangutans." For information see http://www.orangutanprotection.com

To join the video forum, go to www.bigmarker.com and create an account to log in. The conference is at www.bigmarker.com/orangutan/crisis. Please use your real name and location when you log in so that the moderator and the audience can identify you. Unidentified speakers can listen, but will not be allowed to speak, in the interests of transparency and accountability. Those who log in will be also be able to comment and ask questions through instant messaging visible to the whole group. Once you have logged in, find "Orangutans in Crisis." The controls are easy. If you want to ask a question or speak during the forum, click the hand button for the moderator to see and manage the speakers from the audience in order. You will need a web cam and a microphone on your computer to speak. You can also send a private text message to the moderator during the discussion. If you wish, you can join the Orangutan Club International at www.bigmarker.com/orangutan to help with these interactive web forums and with publicity for orangutans and other apes.

No comments: