The Humane Earth Foundation was set up in 2001 by a small number of private individuals who were worried about the state of the environment; they can be seen among the members of the foundation's board of trustees.
The Foundation is under the control of the Swiss Federal Authority for Foundations, to which our auditor, the BDO Visura firm, makes an annual report.
The Foundation is financed solely by donations from physical persons, and it does not seek to obtain any public funding or any grants from companies.
Its objectives, its priorities and its selection criteria are presented on the "Priorities of the Foundation" page.
The Foundation's criteria
FTH is a foundation directed to the public benefit, and its head office is located in Fribourg, in Switzerland. This means that it is governed by the rules drawn up for Swiss foundations, and that it comes under the control exercised by the Federal Authority as to compliance with these rules.
In particular, it is required to comply with the objectives set out in its articles of association, together with certain examination procedures concerning applications. Moreover, it also has main fields of interest that can vary over time.
Objectives of the Foundation
The objectives of the Foundation are to:
1. Defend the natural environment and biodiversity;
2. Combat poverty and exclusion, especially concerning food safety and wholesomeness, together with access to quality health care.
Main fields of interest
In the field of defence of the environment, a distinction is often made between actions of conservation - aimed at protecting, restoring, or conserving a natural element (a site, a plant or animal species, etc.), and actions of social change - aimed rather at searching for the causes of the deteriorations noted, and taking action against the causes.
The foundation is situated in the second category rather than the first, and that is why it is interested mainly in initiatives that are really innovative and contribute to making actual changes in ways of life and ways of doing things, while bringing concrete improvements to the situation of the persons concerned.
The foundation supports especially projects that:
* Inform people of the risks that they face because of attacks on the environment and biodiversity;
* Implement concrete experience leading to changes in behaviour in a way that better respects the environment;
* Spread knowledge of successful experience, to show that change is possible.
In the course of the last two years, we have dealt especially with the following aspects:
* Talks and discussions on the problems linked to GMOs
* Production and distribution of seeds of older varieties
* Creation of networks to exchange seeds between small farmers
* Promotion of sustainable farming practices in the Southern countries
* Creation of organic market gardening and other gardening activities
* Promotion of alternatives to the use of pesticides
* Information on the dangers linked to certain toxic substances: heavy metals, pharmaceutical waste products, pesticides, dioxins, etc.
* Information on the alternatives to incineration of household waste
* Campaigns to promote compliance with the legislation concerning hunting and shooting
* Information on the treatment of animals in various types of industrial livestock farming
* Impact of multilateral trade agreements on environmental questions
* Publishing books and magazines on the environment and sustainable development
* Awarding prizes to students for work on the environment
* Support for research theses on questions concerning the environment
* Creation of alternative health care systems based on local medicinal plants
* Promotion of alternatives to nuclear energy
* Information on the hazards stemming from mobile telephones
* Creation of agricultural cooperatives in Southern countries
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