EARTH DAY NETWORK SELECTS 17 CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS TO CARRY OUT THE AVATAR HOME TREE INITIATIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Earth Day Network Selects 17 Conservation and Environmental Organizations to Carry out the Avatar Home Tree Initiative

  WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 11, 2010)– Today Earth Day Network announces partners in 15 countries who will join in planting one million trees in 2010 through the Avatar Home Tree Initiative. The Initiative is the result of a partnership between Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Earth Day Network, the international non-profit organization that coordinates Earth Day annually and works year-round on climate change, environmental education and broadening the environmental movement. The Avatar Home Tree Initiative, announced by director James Cameron on Earth Day April 22, 2010 in conjunction with the debut of the Avatar Blu-ray & DVD, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainable development on six continents, while also increasing public recognition of the vital role that trees play in preserving life on Earth. Projects were selected by Earth Day Network, after a four month vetting process, based on the strengths of each organization and the benefits they provide to local environments and people. The projects focus on planting trees where they are most needed and providing opportunities for people of all ages to actively participate in protecting the environment. In countries like the United States and the Netherlands, trees will be used to improve urban air quality, provide urban animal habitats, supply fruit as a healthy food source and create a healthier environment for local citizens. In other countries like Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Spain and Haiti, where timber and vital forests have been depleted due to exploitation or natural disasters, partners working with the Avatar Home Tree Initiative will help replenish devastated areas and support local economies. The Initiative’s tree plantings will also support innovative environmental education programs for youth in countries including France, Germany, Sweden and Japan. “Earth Day Network is proud to collaborate with this diverse group of dedicated partners on the Avatar Home Tree Initiative, working together toward reforestation in areas of need,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. “We all have a responsibility to protect the world’s natural resources from man’s exploitation and reforestation is intrinsically tied to local sustainable development and environmental awareness.” “At the core of Avatar lies a message of empowerment and self-discovery,” said Mike Dunn, President Worldwide of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Our initiative to plant one million trees allows us to promote a healthy, sustainable planet, while hopefully empowering others to get involved.” Each of the million trees planted under the Avatar Home Tree Initiative will be added to Earth Day Network’s Billion Acts of Green™, a campaign to reward and inspire simple individual acts as well as larger corporate, governmental and organizational acts with the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. Additionally, the trees planted in this initiative will be pledged towards the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign, a worldwide tree planting initiative facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme. The Avatar Home Tree Initiative is also part of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s parent company News Corporation’s Global Energy Initiative, a company-wide commitment to reduce impacts on climate and engage global audiences with the environmental issues. Through a unique code found inside the Avatar Blu-ray/DVD, fans will be able to adopt one of the one million trees being planted. Go to www.earthday.org/Avatar to learn more about the following unique projects that Earth Day Network and the Avatar Home Tree Initiative are supporting.   Australia Landcare Australia will work with national parks and landcare groups to help restore vulnerable areas of metropolitan New South Wales and Victoria, focusing on areas with unique and threatened animal species. Belgium Vereniging voor Bos in Vlaanderen, or Organization for Forests in Flanders, will combat the environmental effects of intensive livestock and agricultural production by working with private landowners in Flanders to reforest their properties. Brazil To combat agricultural expansion and urban sprawl, SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation will work with local communities to plant native trees as a means to restore the Atlantic Forest, one of the most biologically diverse and severely threatened forest ecosystems in the world. Canada Tree Canada has joined the Avatar Home Tree Initiative to restore 800 hectares (1,976 acres) of pine forest of southeastern Manitoba on land that was devastated by hurricane-force winds in 2005. France With its bi-cultural mission, Kinomé’s Trees & Life program will help 9- and 10-year-old children in southern France plant their own trees. For every tree the children plant in France, kids of the same age in Senegal will plant two trees, thus advancing global reforestation and intercultural awareness. Germany The Berlin Energy Agency’s environmental youth organization, ClubE, will plant trees in southern Berlin as part of its mission to raise awareness among young people about sustainable development and lifestyles and to promote job opportunities for young people in the green economy. Haiti Trees for the Future, a U.S.-based organization that works with Haitian farmers to bring degraded lands back to productivity through the planting of beneficial trees, will work with communities to plant fruit and other native trees using sustainable agroforestry practices. Their work will help combat centuries of environmental degradation and natural disasters, including the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake. Italy The community and Municipality of San Giovanni in Persiceto have recently taken on the Cassa Budrie reforestation project. They will restore and preserve a local wetland and forest located on a major flood plain, helping to promote local water security and prevent oil erosion. Other objectives of the project are biodiversity recovery and the creation of a local carbon sink to combat global climate change. Japan To create a sustainable future, a tailored tree-planting projectin a Japanese schoolwill give students and teachers the opportunity to plant trees on their campus and engage in related environmental education and school greening activities. Mexico Sierra Gorda Ecological Group (SGEG) has been working since 1987 to protect the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, the most ecologically diverse protected area of Mexico. The SGEG will work with local communities and farmers to reforest both agricultural land and pristine forests. Local communities will also directly benefit as local watersheds are restored. The Netherlands           Stichting wAarde, or the Earth Value Foundation, will work with local youth to plant trees in areas around Amsterdam and Utrecht. The trees planted will not only engage youth and communities in learning about their local environment, but will also improve air quality, create healthier outdoor spaces and restore urban habitats for wildlife. Spain Plantemos Para el Planeta, or Trees for the Planet, ambitiously aims to reforest Spain by planting one tree for every Spaniard. The group will work to reforest the south-eastern Costa del Sol, which was ravaged by wildfire in 2009, and will also create recreation spaces for individuals to appreciate the beauty of nature. Sweden Under Sweden’s Forest in School program, children and their teachers go on excursions to plant spruce, pine, birch and beech trees in northeast Sweden with professional guidance and intensive environmental and reforestation education. United Kingdom The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe with only four percent native woodland cover. Leading woodland conservation charity, The Woodland Trust is encouraging community groups across the UK to transform their local area by planting more native trees for the benefit of local people, wildlife and the environment as part of the Trust’s ‘More Trees, More Good’ campaign. Communities can apply for free tree packs and receive support via an online advice center. United States New York City MillionTreesNYC plants trees throughout New York City’s five boroughs, focusing on low- to middle-income communities to increase green spaces and improve urban environmental health for area residents. MillionTreesNYC will participate in the Initiative through their fall Reforestation Day’s city-wide tree plantings. San Francisco Since 1981, Friends of the Urban Forest has helped San Franciscans to plant and care for street trees and sidewalk gardens, thereby supporting the health and livability of the urban environment. The organization is currently focused on plantings in low-income neighborhoods, resulting in increased community interaction and cooperation. Los Angeles TreePeople is a Los Angeles based non-profit whose mission is to improve the urban environment of the city by planting trees. TreePeople’s Fruit Tree Program will provide low-income families, school children and community residents with a source of free fruit to help alleviate hunger, address childhood diabetes and obesity, improve nutrition, and provide shade, beauty and cleaner air now and for decades to come. Through the planting of one million trees in these target countries, the Avatar Home Tree Initiative will help create a more sustainable planet for all living things across Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Individuals will learn more about their role in nature, low income families will have access to a better quality of life, communities will take action on behalf of the planet and the local and global environment will be restored and preserved for generations to come.   About Earth Day Network Earth Day Network was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. Our mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable environment. We pursue our mission through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns. Earth Day Network’scampaignsand programs are predicated on the belief that an educated, energized population will take action to secure a healthy future for itself and its children. The organization has a global reach with a network of more than 22,000 partners and organizations in 190 countries. Earth Day Network is a 501(c)3 organization located in Washington, D.C.   About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and Digital Copy as well as acquisitions and original productions.  The company also releases all products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment.  Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets — from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce – throughout the world.  Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company.  

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Contact: Justine Sullivan Earth Day Network +01 (202) 51800044, ext. 15 [email protected]   James Finn Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment +01 (310) 369-2940 [email protected]   Kavita Smith Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment +01 (310) 369-8435 [email protected]