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Message from the President - Summer 2007
Since our beginning in 1988, the Wildlife Habitat Council and our members have been showing the world how powerful a simple approach to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitats can be. By using volunteer teams of company employees and local community groups with an interest in wildlife, WHC corporate sites are enhancing wildlife habitat for countless species and providing important environmental education opportunities. In the past year, WHC’s Corporate Habitat Certification/International Accreditation Program has grown to 408 WHC certified Wildlife at Work programs and 52 Corporate Lands for Learning programs. These numbers represent an extraordinary year for WHC and its members and partners. Even more important, the quality of both new and recertified programs continues to improve with increased wildlife benefits, community involvement and conservation education activities. Member programs are continually showcased through the media and online, promoting achievements and highlighting success stories. The online registry serves as a reference for WHC sites and as a resource for the press, government agencies, elected officials, conservation organizations and the public. It includes detailed descriptions of the certified efforts at each site. Companies and communities are working together to sustain natural resources through good stewardship and science-based solutions. These ecosystem management techniques result in many benefits, including improved biodiversity conservation and opportunities for environmental education programs. Next year, the Wildlife Habitat Council will celebrate twenty years of outstanding accomplishments in collaborative conservation. WHC established a blue ribbon committee, led by Dr. Charles Carson, retired Vice President of United States Steel Corporation, and Past WHC Chairman of the Board, to design an appropriate range of events to commemorate this achievement. In 1988, WHC was conceived by a group of enlightened corporations, six to be exact, in collaboration with four renowned conservation organizations that would build a robust and diverse partnership of corporations, conservation organizations and community leaders to implement voluntary programs to improve the environment. WHC now boasts over one hundred companies in its membership, along with nearly two dozen conservation organizations, and a growing list of universities and agencies. Corporations, working voluntarily in partnership with their communities and a large spectrum of outside organizations along with WHC have implemented more than 1,500 voluntary Wildlife at Work programs at their facilities across 2.5 million acres.
We all read with concern about growing changes in our coastal waters, the continuing and alarming decline of species, the demise of our pollinating community and the rate at which the atmosphere is warming. We realize that natural resources are exhaustible, and there is great need to retool practices that minimize energy and materials use. What is outstanding is that all of the programs designed by WHC over the years not only identify ways and means to improve and conserve wildlife habitat, but also integrate sustainability concepts that will assist businesses conserve biodiversity, and reduce the use of energy, materials and time in the management of their lands. WHC encourages all to do their part in understanding the current status of the global environment and determine their roles and opportunities to maintain the integrity of the environment. WHC pledges to continue to do its best to identify where its members can integrate voluntary actions into their everyday business operations and to obtain the support of organizations and resources to help them. As we move closer to WHC’s 20th Anniversary, the impact of our successful programs truly comes into focus. We invite you to join WHC as we celebrate the past two decades and advance an agenda that will help us meet the conservation needs for the future. We invite companies, conservation groups, agencies and others to join WHC as we celebrate the past two decades and advance an agenda that will help us meet the conservation needs for the future. Information is available here online or contact me at Whc@wildlifehc.org. Sincerely,
Robert Johnson |
