As part of the Earth Hour 2020 campaign, corporate partners and supporters of WWF-Russia managed to raise enough money to run two important environmental projects at once - supporting the work of the Komandorsky Reserve and preserving Russian pristine forests. The amount of donations from business partners and private supporters totals to 5 million rubles.

The largest environmental campaign, Earth Hour 2020, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), traditionally took place at the end of March. The action was financially supported by 14 companies and more than 500 individuals.

Almost four million rubles from the collected funds will be used to complete the arrangement of the ecological trail on Bering Island (one of the four Commander Islands) in the Pacific Ocean. Bering Island is one of the most remote corners of our country, where thanks to the efforts of the Komandorsky Nature Reserve staff, wild nature is preserved in its pristine beauty. On the Commander Islands under the protection of the Reserve, thousands of sea otters and seals live. Hundreds of sea lions are hosting rookeries here too. And in the protected area off the coast of the islands about a dozen species of cetaceans can be seen. Among them are sperm whales, killer whales, humpbacks and Japanese whales.

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The first stage of arranging the eco-trail at the North-West rookery of marine mammals was completed in 2017. Two new observation decks with information boards were constructed along the trail. In 2019, the Reserve staff installed a 42-meter staircase on the most difficult stretch of the route. However, there were no funds left to continue the work. The Reserve administarion appealed to the WWF-Russia for support. The funds collected during the Earth Hour 2020 will be enough to complete the arranging.

The route to the North-West rookery is the most popular one among tourists on Bering Island. The ecological trail will be equipped with information boards, stairs, observation decks and flooring. This will ensure the safety of visitors and minimize the man-induced impact on the coastal ecosystem. WWF-Russia experts are confident that the development of eco-tourism on the island will help to attract more attention to the protected areas in general, as well as stimulate the flow of funds for important conservation work.

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Procter & Gamble, within the framework of the “Turning Point” campaign, dedicated to the Earth Hour 2020 campaign, supported WWF-Russia in preserving pristine forests and preventing climate change. From March 18 to March 31, one ruble from each purchase of products under the Ariel, Fairy and Lenor brands in the Magnit retail chain was allocated to support the WWF Forest Guards project. The raised funds will help WWF-Russia conserve 1,000 ha of ecologically valuable forests in the Irkutsk region.

The SuperStep sneaker-store team supported WWF-Russia’s forest conservation efforts. In March, buyers could refuse a bag and a box at SuperStep in favor of a reusable bag made from recycled plastic. The money paid for reusable bags were sent to WWF-Russia’s projects. Pristine forests are very important not only for preserving the biological diversity of the Earth, they also help regulate the climate and water regimes of the planet, protect the soil from erosion and help rivers to remain full-flowing. Each year, Russia loses more than 1.6 million ha of such forests and in 80 years our country may completely lose them. Thanks to responsible business and caring citizens, who are #НаСтражеЛеса, these forests have a chance for salvation.

Earth Hour 2020 broke a record for the number of companies supporting the campaign. Other companies that have become general partners of Earth Hour are Tinkoff Bank, LocalKitchen, Energosbytholding, Kastamonu, APPM (FSC LICENSE CODE: FSC-COO2853) and the Titan Group of Companies (FSC License Code: FSC-C016977). In addition, fundraising for environmental projects was also supported by other partner companies of Earth Hour - Coca Cola and Center-invest Bank. The companies PJSC IC RUSS-INVEST, Ferrero, Sveza and the M.Video-Eldorado Group also contributed.

“We sincerely thank our partners and supporters for their active participation and support of the Earth Hour campaign this year,” says Irina Vorobieva, Director of Corporate Relations and Supporters of WWF-Russia. - The projects that we will be able to implement thanks to the raised funds are really important, and we hope that we will soon be able to tell about the first results. The support of our work by like-minded people, be it a large company or an individual, is priceless to us. It inspires optimism and makes it possible to preserve the amazing nature of Russia in various parts of our vast country.”

For additional information please contact

Irina Vorobieva

Head of Membership Programme

+7(495) 727-09-39

Daria Kudryavtseva

Press Officer

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