Dragonair targets HK$1 Million contribution to Mainland China Conservation projects

Dragonair today announced it will launch an inflight charity campaign on January 1 2004 that aims to collect at least HK$1 million for conservation projects in the China Mainland overseen by The Nature Conservancy.

The year-long effort will see passengers on board all Dragonair flights invited to place their spare change - of any currency - in special envelopes in their seat pocket and donate it to the Change for Conservation programme.

The collected funds will be used to support a wide variety of programmes under The Nature Conservancy's Yunnan Great Rivers Project.

"This is the biggest social responsibility programme on which Dragonair has embarked, and we are delighted that we can make a meaningful contribution to conservation in the China Mainland, a market that has been key to Dragonair's development," said CEO Stanley Hui.

"China is home to a huge variety of special habitats, flora and fauna, and it is important that these be preserved for generations to come. The Change for Conservation programme will help in achieving this goal."

China ranks first in the world in terms of the diversity of unique plants, and seventh overall for plant and animal diversity, as it is home to more than 10 percent of all living species on the planet.

The Nature Conservancy is working in northwest Yunnan, which is the biologically richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. The government of China has asked that this project, called The Yunnan Great Rivers Project, be a model of natural resource protection for the whole of the country.

"We are very grateful to Dragonair for its generosity and support for The Nature Conservancy's China programmes," said the Senior Adviser of The Nature Conservancy's China Programmes, Ed Norton. "This Dragonair-The Nature Conservancy partnership is a sterling example of how corporations and conservation organisations can work together to protect our planet to 'Save the Last Great Places…."

The mission of The Nature Conservancy, which was established in 1951, is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. In the past 50 years it has protected more than 101 million acres in 30 countries around the world.