Spring Outside this Earth Day with New Online Tools from The Nature Conservancy

Share your Earth Day experience online at Nature.org

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — April 13, 2009 — The Nature Conservancy encourages people to share their experiences in the natural world on the Web this Earth Day. The Spring Outside campaign offers new tools designed to help the online community stay connected with their actual and virtual worlds, from sharing photos to blogging at nature.org.

Ideas on what to do for Earth Day, April 22, and suggestions for places to go are flowing at the newly launched site that includes interactive elements and a map of Conservancy preserves across the world that welcome the public. Connections between Nature.org and social networking sites like FaceBook and Flickr allow visitors to share their Earth Day experiences with their online network. At MyNature Page, visitors to the Conservancy’s web site can customize their page and virtually visit distant preserves of interest.

“In addition to our Nature Conservancy preserves, the state of Florida has an outstanding parks system so we hope parents and children will use this as an opportunity to have some fun outside,” said Jeff Danter, Florida director of The Nature Conservancy.

Alienation from nature is a growing trend worldwide. Forming a strong relationship between nature and people is beneficial not only for the environment, but for people. A recent Nature Conservancy-funded study found that outdoor play and nature experience have proven beneficial for cognitive functioning, reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and an increase in self-discipline and emotional well being at all developmental stages. Learn more about the Conservancy-funded study.

The Nature Conservancy is a 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 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.