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The UPS Foundation Awards Funds to International Projects

The Conservancy receives support for forest conservation in Brazil, China and Africa
 

ATLANTA—November 16, 2009—The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS, recently awarded a $250,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, to support forest projects in Brazil, China and Kenya.

• In Brazil, funding will be used to support work in the endangered Araucaria Forest — a segment of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil — to lay the groundwork for a carbon offset program through the sustainable cultivation of erva-mate, a highly marketable herb that thrives in the forest understory. The Atlantic Forest is one of the most critically threatened ecosystems on Earth. Waves of development have deposited more than 120 million people here, reducing the forest to only 7 percent of its original size, much in isolated fragments.

• Funds for China will help complete the first of a three-phase climate change assessment focusing on 33 priority conservation areas. The assessment will lay the groundwork for conservation projects that will ensure the viability of China’s precious forest resources in the face of a future altered by climate change.   

• In partnership with the Greenbelt Movement (an organization that empowers African women through conservation entrepreneurship), 62,000 trees will be planted in the Mau Escarpment in Kenya thanks to this funding. The UPS Foundation’s support will also help protect existing old-growth forests in the Mathews Range of Northern Kenya.

 
"This gift from The UPS Foundation will allow The Nature Conservancy to advance some of our most critical international conservation projects,” said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “These projects exemplify the Conservancy’s commitment to protect natural systems for the health of our environment and the sustainability of communities.”

About The UPS Foundation
Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation has a tradition of providing support through grant programs and initiatives that help improve the quality of life in communities where UPS employees live and work. In 2008, The UPS Foundation added an environmental sustainability focus area to their newly-adopted global philanthropic strategy, and since that time, the Foundation has awarded The Nature Conservancy $550,000 for international conservation.

"UPS is delighted to partner with The Nature Conservancy, one of the leading organizations committed to conservation around the world,” said Ken Sternad, president of The UPS Foundation. “This investment is just one important element in the company's aggressive approach to environmental stewardship."

The UPS Foundation has supported The Nature Conservancy since 1977 when it began matching its employees’ gifts to the Conservancy. In addition to recent international gifts, The UPS Foundation has funded volunteer activities and conservation priorities in Georgia.
 

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.