UGANDA UNVEILS THE WORLD’S FIRST EARTH HOUR FOREST

UGANDA UNVEILS THE WORLD’S FIRST EARTH HOUR FOREST

WWF Uganda Secures 2700 Hectares for Reforestation,

Challenges Ugandans to Fill It with 500,000 Trees

14 FEBRUARY 2013, KAMPALA UGANDA/SINGAPORE: Preparations across the globe kick off for Earth Hour 2013 with the creation of the world's first Earth Hour Forest in the East African nation of Uganda, to fight against the 6,000 hectares of deforestation that occurs in the country every month.

WWF Uganda identified close to 2,700 hectares of degraded land, and set a goal to fill it with at least 500,000 indigenous trees as part of their Earth Hour 2013 campaign. Earth Hour 2013 will take place at 8.30pm on Saturday 23 March.

“We cannot afford to ignore this critical environmental threat we are facing today. So, we are calling upon every individual, business, government agency, friends and family members to join us in planting this new landmark for Uganda’s environment,” said David Duli, Country Director, WWF Uganda Country Office.

Businesses, government officials and individuals are quickly heeding the call and taking up the challenge set by WWF Uganda to reach their 2013 goal. Leading the way is Standard Chartered Bank - Uganda, which has already committed to plant close to 250,000 trees, and the Ugandan Minister of State for Water and Environment who has personally pledged to plant 1,000 trees.

“Earth Hour 2013 is the rallying point for millions of people in 152 countries and territories across the world to address the climate change challenge. It illustrates that it’s within our reach and power to work together for a sustainable future,” said Andy Ridley, CEO and co-founder of Earth Hour.

This tree planting initiative is one of thousands of Earth Hour’s I Will If You Will challenges taking place worldwide. I Will If You Will is a campaign that encourages everyone to take a positive action for the environment, beyond the Earth Hour hour. In 2012, nearly 10,000 challenges were posted on YouTube.com/EarthHour driving more than 4.6 million people to interact with the challenges and 200,000 to accept challenges on the platform alone.

The action might be a simple lifestyle change or something that leads to political change. It might require 10 people to do something, or 10,000. I Will If You Will allows anybody – from a kid in a classroom to a President of a nation - to become the inspiration to their friends, family, colleagues and communities by sharing what they’re willing to do to protect the planet.

Uganda’s Earth Hour Forest is the second huge environmental outcome of the I Will If You Will campaign. In December, the Russian Parliament passed a strengthened law to better protect the country's seas from oil pollution after a petition carrying the voices of 122,000 people was successfully presented to the State Duma.

Join the Earth Hour global community and help save the planet at www.earthhour.org/signup.

Earth Hour 2013 will take place at 8.30pm – 9.30pm on Saturday 23 March

-ends-

Media images of the Earth Hour Forest site can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthhour_global/sets/72157632765454740/

See the Earth Hour 2013 Official Video at www.ehour.me/2013ViD

Press images can be downloaded at http://earthhour.org/media-centre/images

Downloadable video footage of the global event will be available in four B-rolls for media, covering major regions athttp://www.earthhour.org/media-centre/videos

Media enquiries:

Benjamin Vozzo, Earth Hour Global E:benjamin@earthhour.org Ph: +65 8223 1728

Mai Tatoy, Earth Hour Global, E: mai@earthhour.org Ph: +65 8223 1654

To join the global community head to:

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a global environmental initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 23, 2013 at 8:30 PM to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. In 2013, Earth Hour’s I Will If You Will concept invites individuals and organisations to challenge others to an ongoing environmental commitment beyond the hour. Earth Hour began in one city in 2007 and by 2012 involved hundreds of millions of people in 152 countries across every continent, receiving reports as ‘the world’s largest campaign for the planet’.

About WWF

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations, with almost five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.