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CHICAGO, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nature Conservancy,
with a generous $12 million gift from the Caterpillar
Foundation of Caterpillar Inc., is undertaking an ambitious
project that will guide protection of the world's vanishing
freshwater supply and transform the way large working river
systems are preserved and protected. The Great Rivers
Partnership will create integrated models for sustaining great
river systems of the world.
Freshwater is a critical global concern and is likely to be
one of the most important issues of this century. Together,
the Conservancy and Caterpillar are setting a new standard
through the Great Rivers Partnership, one that will influence
worldwide conservation of this critical resource. This
partnership will initiate changes that will result in
sustainable management of large rivers worldwide.
"Freshwater systems in the 21st century will be one of
the most important issues for conservation organizations and
governments to address. As the world's population grows,
people will need continued access to freshwater to
thrive," said Steve McCormick, the Conservancy's
president and chief executive officer. "In the end,
future generations will regard freshwater conservation work as
one of the most important things we did for the benefit of
mankind."
"Each of us shares a duty to protect these rivers,
which sustain so much life. Business leaders must work
together to achieve lasting results that allow commerce and
natural places to thrive side-by-side," said Caterpillar
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens. "It's
exciting to imagine the tremendous impact this Great Rivers
Partnership will have throughout the world."
A central component of this new project, the Great Rivers
Center for Conservation and Learning, will be at the heart of
transforming how these magnificent and critical systems are
protected. As the intellectual cornerstone for the Great
Rivers Partnership, the center will identify cross-cutting
issues and activities that threaten large rivers globally; it
will develop and support project work that will inform and
demonstrate ways to effectively conserve these large rivers;
and it will seek ways to engage and influence the business,
political and community leaders who shape the future of these
great rivers by functioning as a learning and sharing
clearinghouse, and helping to provide access to some of the
best scientific information available worldwide.
"Our quality of life is inextricably connected to
freshwater systems, which is why the creation of a center
dedicated to thinking about and working on large river
conservation is long overdue," said Dr. Ken Lubinski, the
river ecologist who will head the new conservation center.
"Through it, the Conservancy and Caterpillar will change
the way we view and conserve rivers around the world."
This is one of the largest gifts made by a corporation to
freshwater conservation and is the largest outright corporate
gift ever made to the Conservancy. The gift will support
conservation of large river systems on three continents: the
Upper Mississippi River Basin in the United States, home to
about 30 million people; the Paraguay-Parana River system in
Brazil, supporting nearly 17 million people as it flows
through five countries; and the Upper Yangtze River in China,
with the Yangtze River being one of four great Asian rivers
that provide freshwater to 500 million people. This
partnership is testimony to the leadership the corporate
community can provide for the conservation of working rivers
that are vital to human life and nature.
The Conservancy and Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Illinois,
have a 25-year relationship, during which time the
relationship has strengthened based on common values and
perspectives. During the year 2000, the foundation gave a
grant to the Conservancy in support of the Illinois Emiquon
Project, located along the Illinois River, one of the largest
wetland restoration projects in the country. The Illinois
River lies within the Upper Mississippi River basin.
Caterpillar leaders serve on boards of the Conservancy in
Illinois and Brazil. Both organizations are committed to
integrity, social responsibility and sustaining natural
resources for future generations.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading international,
non-profit organization that preserves the plants, animals and
natural communities representing the diversity of life on
Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
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 to preserve
more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean,
Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at http://nature.org/
.
For more than 75 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been building
the world's infrastructure and, in partnership with
Caterpillar dealers, is driving positive and sustainable
change on every continent. A Fortune 100 company, Caterpillar
is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining
equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas
turbines. The company is a technology leader in construction,
transportation, mining, forestry, energy, logistics,
electronics, financing and electric power generation.
The Nature Conservancy
CONTACT: Genie Lester, +1-312-759-8017 ext. 23,
glester@tnc.org
,
Brazil, Heloisa de Oliveira, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, +55 (21)
3873-2826 ext.
222,
holiveira@tnc.org
, China, Stefan Kratz, Kunming, China, +86-871-418-2111
ext. 612,
skratz@tnc.org
, all of The Nature Conservancy; or Linda S.
Fairbanks of Caterpillar Inc., +1-309-675-6892,
fairbanks_linda_s@cat.com
Web site: http://nature.org/
http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37391&x=7
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