The Ecologic Foundation is an
environmental organisation
An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements
that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces.
In this sense the environme ...
in New Zealand.
The Society had its origins in the
Beech Forest Action Committee and the
Native Forest Action Council (NFAC). In 1989 the NFAC changed its name to the ''Maruia Society'': "Maruia" means "sheltered valley" in the
Māori language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
, and there is also a valley of that name in New Zealand's South Island. In 1999, the society adopted an altered mission and took the name Ecologic Foundation.
Throughout most of its history, the executive director was
Guy Salmon who has been present through all the group's incarnations.
The Maruia Society lost a lot of members during the mid-late 1990s when it came out in support of sustainable milling of
beech
Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
on the
West Coast—in contrast to the mainstream
environmental movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...
in New Zealand, which was advocating against active management of the forests with money being channelled back into the forests for pest control.
References
External links
Building Bridges and Splitting Greensdetails the Society's involvement with
Timberlands West Coast Limited
Environmental organisations based in New Zealand
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