Florida Guava Jelly
The Nature Conservancy's New U.S. Nature Preserve Map: Helping People Get Outside and Celebrate on Earth Day
Arlington, VA (Vocus) April 20, 2007 -- The Nature Conservancy celebrates this year's Earth Day -- Sunday, April 22 -- by introducing a new easy-to-use interactive guide to many of the Conservancy's 1,500 nature preserves across the United States.
The Conservancy is also honoring Earth Day by offering eco-flower gifts from Organic Bouquet as well as discounts on merchandise for the stunning new high-definition Discovery Channel series, Planet Earth. These gift ideas are available through the Conservancy's Earth Day website at www.nature.org/earthday.
The First Step for People Getting Back to Nature
The new interactive guide -- available online at www.nature.org/earthday -- is a Google™ Map that allows users to quickly locate Conservancy preserves near them or their vacation destinations.
Clicking on each locator "bubble" in the map features a short description of the preserve as well as directions and more information on the preserve's ecological importance.
"The Conservancy's interactive preserve map makes it easier to 'get back to nature,'" said Steve McCormick, the Conservancy's president and CEO. "Nature Conservancy preserves offer visitors an opportunity to explore beautiful landscapes and fascinating wild places and to enjoy the fruits of what's possible through focused, science-based conservation."
"Together with our partners and supporters, we are conserving special places for nature and people," McCormick added. "We encourage people to take the time to celebrate Earth Day and visit these last great places."
The interactive map contains preserves ranging from Alaska's Gustavus Forelands Preserve to the barrier island of Florida's Blowing Rocks Preserve, from the unfragmented forest and pristine shoreline of Maine's Basin Preserve to Arizona's Ramsey Canyon -- the only tropical desert environment in the United States.
Send an Earth Day Message
The Conservancy is also making it easy to share Earth Day best-wishes with eco-flowers from Organic Bouquet and free nature ecards with stunning nature images and messages of hope for the planet.
The Conservancy has partnered with Organic Bouquet, the world's pioneering eco-florist, to offer nature lovers the chance to send the Nature Conservancy Bouquet -- 20 California-grown and eco-certified Dutch tulips. Organic Bouquet donates 10 percent of the bouquet's purchase price back to the Conservancy.
Organic Bouquet works with flower growers around the world who are committed to the highest social and environmental standards. In the last two years, Organic Bouquet's charitable partnerships have generated nearly $200,000 in donations to more than 30 non-profit organizations, from the America Red Cross to PETA and the National Wildlife Federation.
"We are proud to support The Nature Conservancy's efforts to protect the most ecologically important land and waters around the world," said Gerald Prolman, CEO of Organic Bouquet. "The mission of the Conservancy conveys the very sustainable production methods by which our flowers are grown."
Discounts on Planet Earth DVDs
Nature Conservancy members who have also been experiencing the wonders of nature through the spectacular Discovery Channel high-definition (HDTV) series Planet Earth can now recreate that experience again and again…for less.
The Conservancy is offering its members 20 percent savings on the Planet Earth DVD set and 10 percent on the Planet Earth companion book. Both products capture the full majesty of this spectacular 11-part series, which took five years to complete and is narrated by Sigourney Weaver.
From grasslands to deep oceans to forests, Planet Earth showcases global habitats and their animals and plants in stunning imagery of nature -- much of it never captured before on film. The series concludes with an 11-hour Earth Day marathon on April 22. The Conservancy also offers in-depth content on its website -- www.nature.org/earth -- that complements the series.
The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
###