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The Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas (MCFA), based in New York City, was established as the Mitsubishi International Corporation Foundation in 1991 with funding from Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, and its U.S.- based subsidiary, Mitsubishi International Corporation. With a current endowment of $6 million, the MCFA has dedicated nearly $4 million to environmental causes throughout the Americas.
The mission of the MCFA is to promote environmental causes throughout the Americas in the broadest sense, which encompasses both the physical and social environments in which we live. In furtherance of the mission the MCFA supports a wide range of projects in the following four categories:
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Environmental Education |
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Conservation and Biodiversity |
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Environmental Justice |
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Sustainable Development |
For more information about the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas, please visit www.mcfamericas.org
Sustainable South Bronx
SSB's conservation activities
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The Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas made a grant to the Sustainable South Bronx to fund the continuation and expansion of the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) Program, first launched in 2002 to provide environmental stewardship training and job placement for underserved local community residents in one of the most impoverished and polluted areas of New York City. Much of the field training involves the restoration of areas of the Bronx River that have been plagued by decades of industrial waste disposal, and many BEST participants have been placed in jobs that involve the clean-up and restoration of the Bronx River.
Environmental Breakfasts
The Environmental Breakfast
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Geared towards external environmental non-government organizations, since 1993 the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas has hosted a breakfast series held several times a year designed to be a forum for networking and idea exchange around environmental themes. Recent breakfasts have covered topics such as sustainable development, environmental education and eco-tourism. On March 21, 2007, Ms. Cindy Milburn from the International Fund for Animal Welfare spoke to representatives of various environmental organizations gathered in MIC's New York office about how environmental conservation groups and animal welfare groups share similar objectives. Ms. Milburn reflected upon how the well-being of people, animals and the environment are inextricably linked - and that is why conservation and animal rights groups must work together.
Forest Trends
Forest Trends meeting in South America
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The Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas is supporting the work of Forest Trends to promote the use of payments for ecosystem services (PES) to provide economic incentives for conserving critical biodiversity and ecosystems while also helping to reduce poverty. PES, such as credits for carbon sequestration, and funding provided to local communities for watershed protection and biodiversity conservation, can help finance natural area protection in developing countries, and spark a much needed transition to environmentally sustainable agriculture and forestry practices worldwide. Currently, the institutional foundations for PES remain inadequate and there is a signifi cant lack of information about such payments, especially in impoverished rural communities throughout Latin America.
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