Contacts: Rhonda VanWingerden, rhondavw@yahoo.com; Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

Ocean City, New Jersey, September 10, 2007 — Friends of the Rainforest (FOR) and Ecological Internet have launched an Internet based international protest campaign to stop Ocean City, NJ from using ipê, an ancient rainforest wood, for boardwalk decking. Thus far 3,153 people from 70 countries have sent 43,924 protest emails to Ocean City officials from: http://greenmedia.info/wp-redirect.php?url=http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=jersey_boardwalk
The campaign continues to grow and gain international attention.

On September 14th Gomercindo Rodrigues — the heir to Chico Mendes, a rainforest conservation leader who was murdered for trying to bring justice to the Amazon — will be coming to speak about his new book at the Ocean City Arts Center at 7pm. Mr. Rodrigues has worked with indigenous people who make a living rubber tapping in a sustainable manner. Their livelihoods are threatened by industrial logging of rainforests of the type sought for Ocean City’s boardwalks. He will be telling stories about growing up in the Amazon.