Posted on March, 12 2007

Gland, Switzerland – People looking for information about WWF’s work around the world will now be able to find it on the Google Earth™ mapping service.

The global conservation organization announced that from today more than 150 of its projects will be added to Google Earth, the satellite imagery-based mapping product.

“People interested in conservation and the environment now will be able to visit WWF projects in some of the world’s most threatened and biologically diverse places from their home computers,” said WWF International’s Director General James Leape.

“Teaming up with Google Earth is a natural step for WWF, because we are committed to protecting and monitoring our environment. This joint initiative will allow WWF to spread its conservation message to a vast new audience.”

“With more than 45 years of on-the-ground experience, WWF is excited that people everywhere will have the opportunity to zoom in on a sample of our projects and gain a better understanding of just how big the conservation challenge is and some of the things we are doing to address it.”

Users of Google Earth will be able to learn about the geographical location of selected WWF projects, read a description of each and be directed to WWF’s global website, www.panda.org, for more information.

“We’re pleased that the WWF has chosen Google Earth as a platform for sharing their incredibly important conservation work,” said John Hanke, Director of Google Earth and the Google Maps™ service.

“Google Earth has proven to be a powerful resource for the environmental community and for users wanting to learn more about the world around them.”

Google figures show that its Google Earth application has been downloaded more than 200 million times. 

To find WWF on Google Earth, users must first download the Google Earth application from www.earth.google.com. Once downloaded, users will find WWF in the Featured Content section under the heading Layers. From there, click on global awareness and then tick the box reserved for WWF.

For further information:
Moira O’Brien-Malone, Head of Press
WWF International
Tel: +41 22 364 9550
E-mail: mobrien@wwfint.org

Megan Quinn, Google Inc
Tel: +1 650 253 4944
E-mail: meganq@google.com

END NOTE:
• Google, Google Earth and Google Maps are trademarks of Google Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.