PHILANTHROPY
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It’s All AboutYOU Conservation Champion: Chipper Wichman Preserving Hawai‘i and inspiring the world
When the World Conservation Congress reported from its meeting in Honolulu earlier this month that 87% of Hawai‘i’s native plants are threatened with extinction from invasive plants and animals, it made
headlines. For Chipper Wichman, CEO of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Kalaheo, the announcement wasn’t news. Standing on that stage with renowned environmentalists from around the world, Wichman exhaled the way we do when
a job’s finally done. Now a global light shone on a very real local issue and the real work would begin. Conservation drives Wichman’s life’s work, both at the NTBG and as a catalyst for environmental work around the state. And according to him, he couldn’t have done it without
the support of Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF). “HCF’s vision has helped create conservation leadership in Hawai‘i,” he said. “They get credit for initiatives dating back to vision way the 1990’s.”
“HCF’s has helped create conservation leadership in Hawai‘i.” – Chipper Wichman
Together with other visionaries, Wichman drove the process that resulted in the World
> Did you know: HCF doesn’t just award grants to environmental causes. It partners with leading conservation groups and funders to focus resources on preserving our precious environment for generations to come.
Learn how it’s about y ou at HawaiiCommunity F oundation.o r g
Conservation Congress being held in Honolulu this year, the first time in its seventy-year history that it’s been held on U.S. soil. This year’s event set a record, with 192 countries represented. “It felt like a game-changer,” he said. “Hawai‘i had the opportunity to inspire the world, while the work that’s going on around the world could inspire Hawai‘i.”