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General Motors Issues Challenge Grant with The Nature Conservancy to Preserve Brazilian Forests
Arlington, VA—February 19, 2003—General Motors and The Nature Conservancy today pledged to raise $400,000 in a continuing effort to preserve and restore rainforest areas in the world through the Conservancy’s Adopt an AcreÒ program. As part of its ongoing partnership with The Nature Conservancy, GM issued a challenge grant, pledging to match up to $200,000 of every dollar raised by the Conservancy’s Adopt-an-AcreÒ program for the Atlantic Forest project in Brazil. The Adopt an AcreÒ program raises funds to restore and preserve rainforest areas around the world. "General Motors was drawn to The Nature Conservancy because of its dedication to preserving a variety of ecosystems," said Elizabeth A. Lowery, GM vice president of environment and energy. "The Adopt an AcreÒ program makes it possible for us to aid in the protection of a vital area." Funds raised through the Challenge Grant will be used to purchase an estimated 6,000 acres of mountain terrain in the Atlantic Forest along the eastern coast of Brazil. The region is home to hundreds of endangered animal and plant species that can be found nowhere else on Earth. "This matching grant from General Motors will allow donors to protect Brazil’s forests twice as fast," said Steve McCormick, president of The Nature Conservancy. "These national and international partnerships are critical in preserving the vast biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest and protecting the global environment." The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is one of the highest conservation priorities on the planet. Once spanning more than 500,000 square miles across Brazil and into neighboring Paraguay and Argentina, the Atlantic Forest has been reduced to less than 7 percent of its original size. The region is home to 55 mammal species – including 17 primates – and 188 bird species that can be found nowhere else in the world. Of Brazil’s 202 endangered species, 171 of them depend on the Atlantic Forest to survive. The mountain terrain to be purchased under the Adopt-an-AcreÒ and GM matching grant program will be part of the Atlantic Forest Restoration Project in the state of Paraná, in southern Brazil. That 30,000-acre reserve – more than twice the size of Manhattan – was originally created in 2000 with a landmark $10 million investment from GM. A local Brazilian conservation partner owns and manages the reserve with the technical assistance of The Nature Conservancy. The project will not only ensure the protection of endangered species in the area but also benefit the global atmosphere by capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis during forest growth. For More Information:
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