Gorilla Summit Highlights!

This just in, a highlights reel from the Kids Gorilla Summit:

Enjoy!

—Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Saving the Mountain Gorillas

The webcast of the Kids Gorilla Summit is over (although you can still see the full event on demand on the site until 8pm tonight), and everyone who was there broke up into groups to brainstorm ways that we can all make a difference in saving the gorillas.

And I have a bunch of fun facts about gorillas that I learned today, which I hope will inspire YOU to make a difference:

• Gorilla DNA is 97% identical to human DNA.
• Mountain Gorillas make beds to sleep in. Every night they make a new bed — because they poop in their beds.(Eww!)
• Mountain Gorillas live in the Virunga Mountains in a forest habitat that is only found in the mountain range at the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• A Mountain Gorillas' nose print is like a person's fingerprint: each gorilla has a unique nose print.  The nose print is how park rangers tell the gorillas apart.
• There are only 720 Mountain Gorillas left in the world.
• In 2007, ten Mountain Gorillas were killed by people.
• Mountain Gorillas can get their hands caught in snares and traps that people leave out to catch food.
• The biggest threat to the Mountain Gorillas is loss of habitat.

At the summit, the experts talked about three main ways you can help save the mountain gorillas:

1. Raise Awareness:
If people don't know about the problem, they can't fix it.

Example: One way to raise awareness is through writing letters to your elected officials, urging them to get involved. You can get the contact information for your senator here.

2. Protect the Gorillas:
Ultimately, the park rangers on the ground in the forests are the people who can protect the gorillas hands-on. But it takes money and resources that they don't have for them to do their job properly.

Example: When she heard about the endangered Mountain Gorillas, one girl in Illinois threw an ice skating party for all of her friends to raise money to help.

3. Help the People Help Themselves:
One reason the gorillas' home is in danger is that the people living in the area cut down the trees for fuel. They make charcoal from the trees and use that charcoal to cook their food. Saying, "Don't cut down the trees," doesn't help because people still need fuel to use to cook food. (When's the last time you ate an uncooked hamburger or pizza?)  So we need to find some other fuel source that the people living in this area can use that does not harm the gorillas' habitat.

Example: One possible fuel alternative that is being looked into is biofuel briquettes. These are little donut-shaped bricks that are made from biological matter like leaves and manure. These briquettes burn hotter and last longer than charcoal does.

But, as you can guess, none of my examples have solved the problem yet — which is where you come in!  The Mountain Gorillas need people like you to think creatively to come up with solutions in these three areas. Remember, there are no bad ideas!

So, get thinking! I want to know how YOU think we can save the Mountain Gorillas. You can leave a comment here, but make sure to submit your ideas on the Miza message board too!

— Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Looking For Miza: The Trip to Rwanda

I'm at the Kids Gorilla Summit, and right now we're watching a video of Craig Hatkoff's (and friends!) trip to Rwanda to to see the mountain gorillas. Craig (the author of Looking for Miza) introduced this video saying that Rwanda truly is the most beautiful place on earth. So it's hard not to watch (baby gorillas — so cute!), but I want to take this opportunity to catch you up on what's happened so far...

First, Dick Robinson, President of Scholastic, gave an introduction. And then, there were some video introductions by people who couldn't be here today. The first was a video of former President Bill Clinton, that was filmed on Monday during the signing the Clinton Global Initiative Action Commitment.  (Awesome to me because Bill Clinton is my favorite president from my lifetime.) We also got intro messages from famed zookeeper Jack Hanna and news anchor Anderson Cooper.

The event is being moderated by Trevor Neilson, who started the Global Philanthropy Group, which works with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Bono, and Bill Gates. But you don't need to be famous to make a difference. You just need to be willing to give your time and energy.

And now, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumba are telling us about what we can do, so I should go listen.

I'll be back.

— Carly H., STACKS Staffer

First Ever Kids Gorilla Summit Is About to Start!

Hey, Splotters!

I'm at the Scholastic auditorium getting ready for the first ever Kids Gorilla Summit to start. If you're not here (and I suspect none of you are, as you're at a computer reading this), you can watch via live webcast on www.scholastic.com/miza.

We're just getting started, so join in!

— Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Coming Up: First-Ever Kids Gorilla Summit

If you read Evan's entry about Scholastic's campaign to raise awareness about endangered African mountain gorillas, then you know that we've been busy getting things ready for the Looking For Miza Kids Gorilla Summit at Scholastic headquarters in New York City.

Saving the gorillas is hard work! There's a lot of activity going on behind the scenes as we entire the final stages of preparation. So many details go into the planning, things like:

• working out the technology to bring this event to you LIVE on the web, creating a set for the stage and designing lighting for it
• coming up with a "shot list" for the webcast (which cameras will be on whom and when)
• fine tuning the content for the program and writing a script (I'm already on a 9th draft of the outline! — click the image on the right for a larger view)
• planning for special guests (like Dr Richard Leakey, the famed environmentalist)
• coordinating video messages (from former President Bill Clinton and the great American Zookeeper, Jack Hanna)
• editing all the video footage
• coordinating travel for the four Scholastic Kid Reporters based in Rwanda (the photo on the right is of Grace, one of the reporters)

WHEW!!! I'm exhausted just listing it all.

But rest assured — we are just about ready for the big day: Friday, September 26th, 10 a.m. ET.

So we hope you'll tune in on the big day (www.scholastic.com/mizagorilla). It's not only going to be fun and interesting, but we're confident that you will walk away with a newfound inspiration to help the mountain gorillas and the people of the region.

— Billy, Scholastic Vice-President of Productions

Looking for Miza: Choosing the Book Cover

In last week's entry, Evan introduced our Miza campaign to SAVE THE GORILLAS and promised that you'd meet a special surprise guest blogger today. Well, you're in for a treat because that special surprise guest blogger is Craig Hatkoff, the author of the book behind the movement: Looking for Miza! Here's the inside scoop, directly from Craig himself!

Whoever said, "Never judge a book by its cover," probably wasn't in the book business. In the book world, the book's cover really is important because it is the world's first window into the book and serves as the invitation to open the book and "come on in." One thing we know for sure: it is pretty hard to read a book if you don't look inside.

Scholastic Author Wants You to Help Save the Gorillas!

Did you know the African mountain gorillas are critically endangered? There are estimated to be only 720 left in the entire world! And Scholastic author Craig Hatkoff decided he wanted to do something about it.

You may know Craig Hatkoff as the co-author of the Owen & Mzee books and Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World; he's also the Founder of the Owen & Mzee Foundation. Craig, along with the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation and Dr. Richard Leakey (Founder of Wildlife Direct), sponsored an Action Commitment at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative to help save the mountain gorillas (President Bill Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges) — and they are asking kids everywhere to help!