<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:st1 =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.5848" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900"><o:p>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=left></o:p></SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 22pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900"><EM><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
class=320343219-16092009>Announcement:</SPAN><SPAN
class=320343219-16092009>
</SPAN></FONT></EM></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<H6 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 22pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900"><EM><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=1></FONT></EM></SPAN></SPAN> </H6>
<H6 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 22pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN><A
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
href="http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts"><FONT
color=#0000ff>Online</FONT> <FONT color=#0000ff>Resource</FONT></A> Puts
Ecosystem Services <o:p></o:p></SPAN></H6>
<H6 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 22pt">Experts at Fingertips
<P align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><IMG
height=67
src="outbind://300-0000000002A79097CE00384795DD08C06301299E070046E2E1971BCEC1459149FBB1A4B4342C00000098FFBD0000D86A87E19CBC514C93CBE66E9E3F8F4B00002029B26D0000/cid:320343219@16092009-2636"
width=576 v:shapes="_x0000_i1025"></SPAN></P></SPAN><FONT size=2></FONT></H6>
<P>WASHINGTON, D.C.; September 15, 2009 – The World Resources Institute (WRI)
and other leading international environmental organizations today launched
the<SPAN class=834091718-17092009> <A
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
href="http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts"><FONT color=#0000ff>Ecosystem
Services Experts Directory</FONT></A></SPAN>, a public online directory that
allows business leaders, governments<SPAN class=834091718-17092009>, and
journalists</SPAN> to locate and contact specialists in ecosystem
services.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P>“Businesses realize that they face material risks and opportunities related
to ecosystem degradation,” said <A title=http://www.wri.org/profile/craig-hanson
href="http://www.wri.org/profile/craig-hanson">Craig Hanson</A>, director of the
People and Ecosystems Program at the <FONT title=http://www.wri.org/
color=#0000ff><A title=http://www.wri.org
href="mip://0367c3a0/www.wri.org">World Resources Institute</A></FONT>. </P>
<P>“Now, for the first time, policy makers and companies have a single place
where they can quickly find people who can help them make informed decisions
about the environment,” added Nigel Winser of the <A
title=http://www.earthwatch.org/ href="http://www.earthwatch.org/">Earthwatch
Institute</A>. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P>The free, easy-to-use directory enables users to search for country-specific
experts in a wide range of ecosystem disciplines. It includes hundreds of expert
profiles from environmental organizations around the world, including the <A
title=http://www.iucn.org/ href="http://www.iucn.org/">I<SPAN
title=http://www.iucn.org/ style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">nternational Union
for Conservation of Nature</SPAN> (IUCN)</A>, the <A title=http://www.esa.org/
href="http://www.esa.org/">Ecological Society of America</A>, and the <A
title=http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx
href="http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx">Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment</A>’s Sub-Global Working Groups.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">“With this resource, a policy
maker in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>, for example, can contact
local natural resource economists to assess the value of a nature reserve,” said
<A name=OLE_LINK2></A><A name=OLE_LINK1><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2">James Griffiths</SPAN></A>, managing director of
Ecosystems, Water and Sustainable Forest Products Industry at the <A
title=http://www.wbcsd.org/ href="http://www.wbcsd.org/">World Business Council
for Sustainable Development</A>. “Likewise, an agriculture company in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>
can find water, biodiversity, and agriculture experts to learn about the
immediate ecological challenges facing its products.”</P>
<P>“The directory provides an opportunity for experts to share their work and
improves scientific communication to decision makers,” said Enrique Lahmann of
IUCN.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
class=834091718-17092009>Visit the directory at <A
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
href="http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts"><FONT
color=#0000ff>http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/expert</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=834091718-17092009><FONT color=#0000ff>s</FONT></A>. </SPAN>The <U><A
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
href="http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts"><FONT
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts color=#000000>Ecosystem
Services Experts Directory</FONT></A></U> is a joint venture between WRI, IUCN,
WBCSD, and the Earthwatch Institute.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 5"> <A
title=http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
href="http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts"></A> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </P>
<P align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 28pt; COLOR: #ff9900; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN></SPAN> </P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive
Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th
floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 21-27, 2010. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>