The Nature Conservancy Announces Green Gift Options for the 2008 Holiday Season

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — December 9, 2008 —

This holiday season, The Nature Conservancy in Utah is encouraging consumers to give gifts that will go twice as far – gifts that will delight loved ones while also protecting and preserving some of the world's most precious habitats for future generations.

“Interest in green gifts is at an all-time high, and starting at just $10, the Conservancy makes it easy to stretch each dollar,” said Dave Livermore, Utah State Director. “It’s a great chance to give your friends and loved ones a unique holiday gift that’s also a lasting and secure investment for the future of our planet.”

For 2008, the Conservancy's green gift offerings include a new opportunity to adopt an acre in seven different threatened landscapes, including in the Rocky Mountains. There are also options to protect Palau's stunning coral reefs, and plant trees in South America's Atlantic Forest. The Conservancy’s new holiday gift site at nature.org/giftguide features an interactive map, photos, and fact sheets to introduce holiday shoppers to the regions they're invited to protect.

All gifts include updates on conservation projects straight from the region. Gifts of $50 or more include a personalized certificate commemorating your generosity, magnets, world map, fact sheet, and a one-year subscription to Nature Conservancy magazine.

But most importantly, these gifts will support conservation programs around the globe, including:

*Adopt an Acre-- www.nature.org/adopt

For the first time in the history of the Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program, donors can choose an acre from their favorite of seven locations around the world. An Adopt an Acre gift directly contributes to efforts to protect and restore these extraordinary-and threatened-areas. Areas up for adoption include:

*Plant a Billion Trees-- www.plantabillion.org

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most critically threatened ecosystems on Earth. Encompassing eastern Brazil, northern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay, the Atlantic Forest rivals the Amazon in its diversity of woodlands, plants and animals, while providing water for 70 percent of Brazil's population. Despite this wealth of biodiversity, waves of development have deposited 11 major cities and more than 120 million people here, reducing the forest to only 7 percent of its original size, much in isolated fragments.

Labeled by PerezHilton.com as "a worthwhile cause," donors to the Plant a Billion Trees campaign will help restore South America's imperiled Atlantic Forest—at a cost as little as a dollar a tree.

*Rescue the Reef-- www.nature.org/adoptpalau

The Republic of Palau is famous for its marine diversity and world-class diving. Known as one of the "Seven Underwater Wonders of the World," Palau supports an amazing 585 hard and soft coral species, over 300 species of sponges, and more than 1,300 varieties of reef fish. Its waters are home to endangered and vulnerable species like saltwater crocodiles, sea turtles, giant clams, and the dugong, a relative of the manatee. A gift to the Rescue the Reef program will support efforts to conserve this fragile habitat.

For those who prefer to give a gift they can wrap, The Nature Conservancy Marketplace— http://shop.nature.org– offers a number of unique items at a variety of prices, from high-style birdhouses to handmade Bolivian hammocks, as well as Nature Conservancy apparel for the whole family.

For more information on the Conservancy, its projects and gift giving opportunities, please visit http://www.nature.org/giftguide.

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The Nature Conservancy is an international non-profit membership organization, whose mission is to preserve plants, animals, and natural communities by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy and its more than one million members have safeguarded more than 15 million acres in the United States. The Conservancy has also worked with like-minded partner organizations to preserve more than 100 million acres in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Asia. In Utah, The Nature Conservancy has protected nearly 900,000 acres. Visit us on the web at nature.org/utah.