BioIntegrity

Background

BioIntegrity is a project of the left-of-center nonprofit organization Social Good Fund. It solicits donors to raise funds to purchase old growth tropical forests in foreign countries to mitigate climate change. ^{3 1}

As a project sponsored by a nonprofit organization, BioIntegrity is not required to disclose its financials, but in 2019, it released a report stating that in its first five years, it received $135,211 in donations. ³ It also lists its donors, which consist of individuals, religious institutions, and members of Global Environmental Citizens. ⁴

Programs

BioIntegrity’s programs include various ways of paying for the expansion of protected old-growth tropical forests. The programs are differentiated based on which locations are being financed, and lands preserved are owned by partner environmentalist conservation groups. ^{2 4}

BioIntegrity advocates for prioritizing the conservation of old-growth tropical forests, often found near the equator, as a means of addressing climate change. It also opposes deforestation of such lands which it claims would worsen climate change, and it seeks preservation to conserve wildlife. BioIntegrity uses its advocacy for protections of old-growth tropical forests to solicit donations for its fundraising programs. ²

Partners

BioIntegrity lists Global Wildlife Conservation, Plant With Purpose, and Rainforest Trust as partner organizations. ⁴

BioIntegrity partners with Rainforest Trust through its Conservation Action Fund which uses donations to purchase old-growth tropical rainforests globally at the discretion of Rainforest Trust and allows residents to manage the land. BioIntegrity claims that for every $2 donated, one acre of land can be purchased. ^{5 6}

Plant With Purpose uses donations to fund tree-planting projects. ⁷ Global Wildlife Conservation funds land conservation, wildlife conservation, and advocates for criminalizing commercial wildlife trade globally. ⁸

Christopher Searles

Christopher Searles is the founder and president of BioIntegrity. Searles owns Chris Searles Productions, under the title of copy chief. It provides copywriting services for environmentalist organizations and programs, including ClimateBuddies.org, First Baptist Church of Austin’s Green Team, the Sustainable Shoppers Ball!, Green Tips for Great Kids, Austin Climate Leadership Petition, Austin Has a Dirty Secret, Greener Austin Energy Generation Planning group, the Interfaith Environmental Network, and Faith and Energy Action Team. ⁹

From 2005 to 2015, Searles worked as the owner and CEO of GoodCommonSense.net, a business that sold clothing that was manufactured under environmentalist standards. ⁹

From 2011 to 2014, Searles worked as an outreach coordinator for Interfaith Environmental Network, is a coalition of religious organizations of various faiths in the Austin, Texas area whose members collectively agree to engage in environmentalist initiatives such as those that allegedly reduce carbon emissions. ⁹