|
Using the Internet to Save Cypress Swamps |
For immediate
release: June 13, 2007
Contact:
Aaron Viles, 504-525-1528, ext.
207
Using the Internet to Save Cypress Swamps
Conservation Group Releases Short Web Animation to Urge Citizen Action
New Orleans, LA- Cypress forests on the Gulf Coast are being
clear-cut solely for the purpose of producing cypress garden mulch, despite
their importance as critical habitat and natural storm and flood protection.
The Gulf Restoration Network released Corporate
Low-Down Depot Mart Clearcuts the Gulf Coast, a short FLASH animation, to
criticize Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's who are selling cypress mulch
throughout the country. Watch the video at www.healthygulf.org.
"We're selling cypress mulch,
made from entire coastal cypress forests ground up for your garden. Cheap
mulch!" says Harry Shearer, who did the voiceover for the mock advertisement
that opens the clip.
Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and
Lowe's have all been presented with extensive evidence of cypress clear-cutting
for mulch that is taking place in vulnerable areas of the Gulf. Despite what
they've seen, all three companies continue to loudly proclaim their
environmental commitment without doing what it takes to save the cypress. The
Save Our Cypress Coalition is calling on all three corporations to stop selling
cypress mulch.
"The most important actors in
this tragic comedy are citizens and consumers," says Dan Favre, Campaign
Organizer for the Gulf Restoration Network, "After watching the clip, viewers
will have the opportunity to send an email directly to the CEO's of Lowe's,
Home Depot, and Wal-Mart to personally ask that they stop selling cypress
mulch."
With the continued popularity
of sites like YouTube and Google Video, non-profits are turning to short, entertaining
videos in order to spread important messages, and they're getting help. The
Gulf Restoration Network's Corporate
Low-Down Depot Mart was created by Agit-Pop Productions and features Harry
Shearer, voice of Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns and other characters from The Simpsons.
The video is part of an ongoing
campaign by the Save Our Cypress Coalition, to halt the sale of cypress
mulch. Last week, Save Our Cypress
member group Waterkeeper Alliance held a press conference with their president
Robert Kennedy, Jr. and ran a full-page ad in USA Today sending the same
message.
Cypress forests have been shown to be the best natural storm
and flood protection for the Gulf Coast, and they are important habitat for wildlife,
including threatened and endangered species like the bald eagle and Louisiana black bear. Cypress swamps may also
be the last refuge of the elusive ivory billed woodpecker. Due to changes in
hydrology and the prevalence of invasive species, many of the cypress swamps
that are being destroyed will never regenerate.
To see the video and learn
more, please visit www.healthygulf.org.
#####
|
