$12 Million From Caterpillar Inc. to The Nature Conservancy

This article covers two issues we have previously covered, namely the activities of Caterpillar (already the subject of widespread condemnation for knowingly supplying bulldozers to the Israeli government to use illegally against Palestinians); and corporate partnerships forged by three of the world's largest NGO'S - WWF, Conservation International and the Nature Conservacy, which were exposed by WorldWatch last December.

Para acceder a una versión en español de este artículo, siga el siguiente link

$12 Million From Caterpillar Inc. to The Nature Conservancy Launches Ambitious Global Freshwater River Project and Establishes a Great Rivers Center

Friday January 14 2005

PRNewswire

CHICAGO - 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.

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.

Este artículo cubre dos temas ya trabajados anteriormente: las actividades de Caterpillar (objeto de condena generalizada por proveer de bulldozers al Estado israelí para ser usados contra los palestinos); y las sociedades corporativas consumadas por tres de las mayores ONG del mundo - WWF, Conservation International y Nature Conservacy, que fueran señaladas por WorldWatch en diciembre pasado.

12 millones de dólares de Caterpillar Inc. para Nature Conservancy

PRNewswire

Viernes 14 de enero, 2005

CHICAGO - Con un generoso regalo de 12 millones de dólares otorgado por Fundación Caterpillar, Nature Conservancy está desarrollando un ambicioso proyecto que dará protección a las aguas y transformará el modo en que ríos extensos son preservados y protegidos. El proyecto Great Rivers Partnership creará modelos integrados para hacer sostenibles los más importantes sistemas de ríos en el mundo.

El agua fresca es una preocupación mundial y será una de las cuestiones más importantes del presente siglo. Juntas, Conservancy y Caterpillar están creando un nuevo estándar que tendrá influencia mundial en la conservación de este recurso. Esta sociedad iniciará cambios que resultarán en un manjeo sustentable de los ríos extensos al rededor del mundo.

Este es uno de los mayores donativos otorgados por una corporación para la conservación del agua, y es la mayor contribución en la historia de Conservancy. Será un gran apoyo para la conservación de ríos en tres continentes: la cuenca superior del Mississippi en estados Unidos, donde viven unos 30 millones de personas; el sistema acuífero Paraná-Paraguay en Brasil, que recorre 5 países y beneficia a 17 millones de personas; y la cuenca superior del río Yangtze en China, uno de los mayores de Asia que provee de agua a 500 millones de personas.