“Mozilla Parks: Lanikai Beach”

Mozilla’s partnership with Kupu has been created to help Kupu achieve its mission of providing a healthy and hands-on educational experience to Hawaii’s youth, encouraging the development of natural resource managers, cultural awareness with an environmental mindset by connecting them to the powerful tools of community and collaboration that exist on the web.

Mozilla believes that the web is an ecosystem that needs to be protected, just like ecosystems in nature. We are fundraising for parks and beaches that are used as product codenames to enhance their presence within the web ecosystem, while we help them protect the natural ecosystem.

For the next release of Thunderbird, Mozilla chose Lanikai beach. Often described as paradise, it is a place to rest, play, reflect and share. Yet even in this idyllic environment, rare local species of sea birds are at risk of extinction.

The Bulwer’s Petrel, a seabird that nests on islets offshore Kailua and Lanikai Bays, has disappeared off many islets in Hawaii due to hunting from introduced predators. Kupu, a local Hawaiian conservation group helps preserve the prosperity of the Bulwer’s Petrel and the Lanikai ecosystem while creating a hands-on conservation learning experience for Hawaiian teens. Through their Hawaiian Youth Conservation Corps, they educate Hawaii’s youth and give them the opportunity to work alongside state biologists, helping to keep this uncommon bird stable in the Hawaiian ecosystem.

Kupu would like to thank Mozilla and the commmunity for all their support! During the campaign Mozilla raised over $7,000 to support Kupu and Hawaiian sea bird conservation.

For more information on Mozilla Parks and current projects, click here.

Source: “Mozilla Parks: Lanikai Beach”, online. Available: http://www.mozilla.org/parks/lanikai/ February 7, 2011.