Ecology :: Conservation group and energy company partner to inspire environmental protection

Conservation International (CI) and BG Group, plc (NYSE: BRG), a global, integrated natural gas company, will kick off their three-year Conservation through Photography Alliance in downtown Houston with the premier of a photography exhibition entitled A Future for Life.

The show which will be on display at One and Two Allen Center, 500 Dallas Avenue, May 16 ? June 30, includes more than 60 images that take viewers from the spectacular wildlife of the Pantanal wetland in Brazil to the depths of the coral reefs of the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia. The exhibit is free to the public and open Monday ? Friday, 8 a.m. ? 6 p.m.

In conjunction with the exhibit, CI is hosting an online contest to give the public the opportunity to win a framed print of their favorite image from the exhibition. To enter the contest, participants can log onto www.conservation.org where they can also view an expanded slideshow of the exhibition that includes downloadable e-cards. The winner will be announced July 3rd.

CI, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, seeks to protect biodiversity around the globe. Through the Conservation through Photography Alliance, CI and BG Group aim to build awareness of the importance of the natural world and to demonstrate how photography can be used as a tool to conserve it. The partnership directs its efforts to documenting the people, places and animals within the world?s biodiversity hotspots, key wilderness and marine regions. The alliance focuses on four major areas: training field conservationists in photography; expanding the available imagery of threatened and little documented regions; expanding the availability of high quality conservation images and carrying the conservation message to audiences around the world through photography exhibitions.

BG North America, a subsidiary of London-headquartered BG Group, is hosting the Houston show, the first of several conservation-themed exhibits to be presented throughout the world from 2007 to 2010.

“As a company that works closely with the earth?s natural resources, we are committedto making a positive contribution to the environment,” said Martin Houston, BG executive vice president and managing director. “We?ve formed this alliance todocument land and sea habitats that are home to the world?s most threatened species so that BG may help raise awareness of the need to support conservation efforts worldwide.”

“Our partnership with BG Group will advance conservation of our natural world,” said Russell Mittermeier, president of CI. “This partnership allows those that do not have the opportunity to travel to these beautiful, yet threatened, places the chance to see why it is so important that we protect our planet?s biodiversity.”

Support from BG Group has already enabled CI to conduct a photographic training workshop in the wetlands of Latin America and two photography expeditions to document the coral reefs of Asia and the rainforests of Africa. More than half of the images showcased in the exhibition are products of the alliance. Additional images were individually selected from CI?s image library to illustrate the value and beauty of biodiversity hotspots, key wilderness and marine regions?areas that CI and partners, including BG Group, are actively working to protect.

“Photography is the ideal tool for communicating our conservation efforts. BG Group?s support has allowed CI to expand the depth of its visual content by helping to increase our image library through photographic expeditions,” said Sterling Zumbrunn, director of photography at CI. “It has also empowered our field staff to improve their photography by investing in equipment and training. With BG?s support, CI is using the power of photography to rally a wider audience to conservation action through exhibitions such as this one in Houston,” he added.


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