Press

February 14, 2000

Ann Arbor, MI -- EcologyFund.com launched a new website today that gives the public the chance to click to preserve wilderness at no cost. Visitors to the site select a project and "click to donate". Sponsors of the site including World Journeys, iPrint.com, and CharityMall.com then donate money to acquire the threatened wilderness areas and add them to nature reserves or parks. A person can save over 100 square feet with one click.

There is no cost to the visitor. Sponsors contribute directly to the charitable land trusts that buy the land. "We modeled it after the Hungersite.com," said EcologyFund founder Tim Kunin. "We are interested in using the internet to help solve world problems. A click-a-day isn't much, but with three sponsors an individual can save over 5,000 square feet of wilderness every month." Donors to the site have already purchased over 500 acres.

"It's an exciting new vehicle for wilderness preservation," said John Burton, Executive Director of the Rainforest Trust. "Thousands of acres of wilderness habitat are being destroyed everyday. It is important to save what we can."

EcologyFund.com allows anyone to "donate" land in wilderness areas of California, Colorado, Washington State, the Amazon Basin, and Argentina. "The price of wilderness land varies widely," said Kunin, "but it's important to preserve natural areas all over the world."

"Other sponsors contribute to wilderness preservation for the same reasons we do," said Greg Hesterberg, the President of CharityMall.com which is underwriting the EcologyFund site. "We believe in preserving wilderness, and it is also a very good advertising value. Our advertising dollars are doing double duty. It's another example of how the internet can contribute."

"With one click you can save over 100 square feet of wilderness every day, that's larger than my office," said Kunin. Asked why the launch was scheduled for February 14th, Kunin replied that, "We thought we'd send the world a valentine."