BEIJING, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Technologies Corp.
today expanded its partnership with Conservation International (CI) in
restoring forests in the environmentally critical Mountains of Southwest
China biodiversity hotspot. UTC's reforestation investment now totals
$500,000.
UTC's latest grant of $300,000 - which follows a donation of $200,000
announced last year - enables CI to restore more than 120 hectares, or
roughly 300 acres, of degraded lands inside one of the world's biodiversity
"hotspots" for imperiled species.
UTC's contribution to CI's Forest Restoration for Climate, Community
and Biodiversity (FCCB) initiative is expected to offset 20,000 tons of
carbon dioxide, a leading contributor to global warming, during the 30-year
life of the forest. Restoration of the degraded land using native trees
also helps protect the nearby Ma An Shan Nature Reserve in southern Sichuan
province, China -- home to many critically endangered species, including
the giant panda and elusive clouded leopard.
"CI's on the ground work and progress toward restoring this critically
important forest relies on support from forward thinking companies like
UTC," said Lu Zhi, Ph.D., Director, CI-Shan Shui Center for Nature and
Society, CI's China affiliate. "We are so pleased that UTC places such a
premium on this project and continues to support such a worthy investment."
The Mountains of Southwest China stretches over 262,000 square
kilometers characterized by complex topography ranging from valleys to
mountains. The region encompasses a wide variety of ecosystems, including
broad-leaved and coniferous forests, bamboo groves, scrub communities,
alpine meadow, freshwater wetlands, and alpine scrub and screen
communities.
The region has been identified as one of the world's 34 biodiversity
"hotspots" -- places where 75 percent of the planet's most threatened
mammals, birds and amphibians survive in just 2.3 percent of the Earth's
surface - a space roughly equal to the five largest U.S. states.
CI has already restored more than 5,000 hectares of degraded lands
within the Mountains of Southwest China hotspot. It plans to do more in the
near future. The organization's FCCB initiative also is working with the
State Forestry Administration of China, The Nature Conservancy and other
groups to demonstrate the benefits of using native species to restore
degraded lands in areas that provide critical habitat for wildlife, while
providing job opportunities and livelihood support to the local
communities.
The Mountains of Southwest China face increased pressure from such
natural disasters as flooding and landslides due to loss of natural
habitat. Reforesting with native species provides multiple benefits, such
as ensuring a viable habitat for endangered species, conserving soil and
water, reducing the risk of pests, pathogens and fires, and sequestering
carbon.
Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science,
economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth's
richest regions of plant and animal diversity in the biodiversity hotspots,
high-biodiversity wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems. With
headquarters in Washington, D.C., CI works in more than 40 countries on
four continents. For more information about CI, visit http://www.conservation.org.
United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) is a Fortune Global 500 company based
in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A., that provides a broad range of high
technology products and support services to the building systems and
aerospace industries worldwide. UTC businesses include Otis Elevator,
Carrier heating and cooling, UTC Fire & Security, and UTC Power, Pratt &
Whitney aircraft engines, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and
Sikorsky helicopters.
For several years, UTC and its business units have supported China's
efforts to promote sustainable development. Last year, UTC and China's
Ministry of Construction signed a memorandum of understanding to work
together to promote sustainable development of Chinese buildings and
cities. UTC's Otis unit is the first elevator company to receive a Green
Product Award from the China Environmental Protection Foundation. Earlier
this year, Otis opened the world's first "green" manufacturing facility in
China's Tianjin Economic- Technological Development Area (TEDA). UTC's
Carrier unit has sponsored the China Ozone Layer Protection Awards Program,
hosted by the State Environmental Protection Administration, which
recognizes outstanding contributions by Chinese individuals and
organizations to ozone layer protection. Further information about UTC is
available at http://www.utc.com.
Contact: John Moran, UTC
(860) 728-7062
http://www.utc.com
SOURCE United Technologies Corp.
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