With Earth Day just a few days away, I couldn’t resist sharing a few more photos from last weekend’s Disney Kids and Nature Celebration.

After the inspiring Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund awards ceremony last Friday at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where we honored the Children & Nature Network, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, and Youth Service America, we headed over to Downtown Disney for the world premiere of “Chimpanzee,” Disneynature’s newest True Life Adventure, complete with red-carpet arrivals and special guests, including Hollywood Records recording artists McClain Sisters, who sing “Rise” from the film.

Hear the story of Oscar, a young chimpanzee unexpectedly left to fend for himself, and you can’t help but want to help chimpanzees. The great news is we can! One way is to see the film during its opening week. Disneynature has joined forces with the Jane Goodall Institute for a special “See ‘Chimpanzee,’ Save Chimpanzees” program. During the film’s opening week (April 20-26), Disneynature will make a donation to the Jane Goodall Institute through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to help protect chimpanzees and their habitats.

Last Saturday, the inspiration continued with a recognition ceremony at the America Gardens Theatre at Epcot for the winners of the Disney Friends for Change in-school program Disney Planet Challenge. The winning elementary school class was a 5th grade class at Brickett Elementary in Lynn, Massachusetts, whose project “Think Before You Idle,” aimed to decrease unnecessary vehicle idling through education and encouragement. The winning middle school class was a 7th grade class at Christa McAuliffe School, PS 28, in Jersey City, New Jersey, whose “Project Reservoir,” worked to turn the Jersey City Reservoir into a state-designated environmental learning center. The winners received $6,000 teacher awards, $10,000 classroom grants and a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort for the winning teacher and students. Those recognizing the students included Jay Rasulo, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of The Walt Disney Company, and Disney Channel stars Laura Marano and Ross Lynch.

The rest of the day at the Disney Friends for Change Youth Summit featured presentations and workshops designed to inspire the 100 young people from around the world attending to imagine their planet’s future and provide them with new ideas to take action for nature when they returned home. Disney Channel stars Debby Ryan, Zendaya Coleman, Bella Thorne, Ross Lynch and Laura Marano participated in the discussions.

What a great way to kick off Earth Day week–I hope your Earth Day is filled with nature’s inspiration!

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, Epcot, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Special Events, Walt Disney World Resort

This morning at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we were thrilled to honor at a special Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF) awards ceremony five outstanding organizations for their work to connect kids to nature.

During the ceremony, emceed by weather anchor for ABC’s “Good Morning America” Sam Champion, the DWCF honored The Children & Nature Network, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, and Youth Service America. Each organization received a $100,000 grant to continue growing their efforts to help kids develop lifelong conservation values. Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company, and Meg Crofton, president, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, U.S. and France, applauded the honorees.

The ceremony is part of the Disney Kids and Nature Celebration, which spotlights Disney’s long-standing commitment to nature, a legacy that spans more than 60 years and began with Walt Disney himself. The celebration continues into the weekend and includes the world premiere today of “Chimpanzee,” Disneynature’s newest True Life Adventure, at Downtown Disney (in theaters nationwide starting April 20), and Disney Friends for Change events, including a youth summit and recognition ceremony for the Friends for Change in-school program Disney Planet Challenge at Epcot tomorrow.

I believe my passion for the planet was sparked by my early outdoor adventures in the North Carolina mountains. I’m sure many of you have similar stories about your childhood experiences in the great outdoors. Today, we must focus on getting young people out into nature and having experiences like the ones we had growing up – it will spark their imagination and curiosity and inspire the future conservation leaders of our planet. We are doing our part at Disney to connect kids and nature through support from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, through experiences in our parks and resorts, through programs like Disney Friends for Change, through films like “Chimpanzee,” and beyond.

The five organizations were honored for these noteworthy accomplishments:

• Children & Nature Network for championing the effort to draw attention to the importance of the outdoors to childrens’ health and well-being.
• Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots global program for inspiring youth leadership in 120 countries.
• National Wildlife Federation for their legacy programs connecting kids with the great outdoors, including Ranger Rick magazine.
• The Nature Conservancy for developing life-long conservation values and career influence through nature internships for underserved youth.
• Youth Service America for activating youth volunteers through nature conservation projects.

Tagged: Conservation, DAK, WDW

Filed: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort

I can’t think of better way to begin a post on Disney Parks Blog than to share with you a highlight of my career that just occurred last Saturday evening. It was my honor to accept, on behalf of The Walt Disney Company, The Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Award for Corporate Social Responsibility from Dr. Jane Goodall herself! Dr. Jane, one of my personal heroes, is a renowned primatologist and conservationist—and an inspiration to everyone who meets her.

Dr. Jane chose to recognize The Walt Disney Company for its long-standing efforts to make the world a better place for all of its inhabitants. Examples include programs and experiences that connect children and families with nature—from Disney’s Animal Kingdom, to The Seas with Nemo & Friends, to onboard our Disney Cruise Line ships, and at the movies and in our living rooms through Disneynature.

We inspire kids and communities about conservation beyond our parks and resorts. Just last week, we announced that the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, will award $2 million to conservation projects around the globe this year—the highest amount we’ve ever contributed in a single year. And we are thrilled to engage in Disney’s Friends for Change to make a difference for the planet.

When she presented the award, Dr. Jane said that Disney has been very responsible in carrying out Walt Disney’s commitment to conservation. Yes, it is an awesome responsibility to help carry forth this legacy of caring for wildlife and nature, but with the help of our Cast Members—who are so passionate about protecting our planet— and all of our Guests who are part of the Disney family, we will have a positive impact on the planet.

To learn more about Disney conservation efforts, visit www.disney.com/conservation.

Tagged: Conservation, WDW

Filed: Walt Disney World Resort

Last week Mickey Mouse surprised a 6th grade class in rural Mediapolis, Iowa, as Grand Prize winners of our first ever nationwide Disney’s Planet Challenge – an environmental learning competition for 4th – 6th grade classrooms. Thousands of classrooms across the country enrolled in the competition.

Mrs. Schnedler’s winning class worked hard throughout the school year on their Disney’s Planet Challenge project to help restore the natural habitats of the Northern Bobwhite Quail whose dwindling population is a significant environmental issue facing Des Moines County. Soon they’ll be going to Disneyland to enjoy activities and be honored in a recognition ceremony. You can see more about their story and their class project on Disney Channel later next month. In the meantime, enjoy this video of the surprise announcement from Mickey during a school assembly last week.

Tagged: DLR, Video

Filed: Disneyland Resort

Did you know that one of the most effective ways to combat climate change and protect threatened wildlife is to preserve the world’s forests?

That’s why as part of our company commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to protect diverse habitats we’re making a major investment in projects to protect forests in the Amazon, the Congo, the Lower Mississippi River valley and Northern California.

In partnership with leading conservation groups Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund, we’re investing $7 million to support projects that use a variety of strategies including avoided deforestation, reforestation and integrated forest management to get the job done.

These efforts supplement what we are already doing across the company to cut down on fossil fuel use, to switch to cleaner forms of energy and to educate kids and adults alike about being better environmental stewards. (If you don’t yet know about Friends for Change: Project Green or Disney’s Planet Challenge, you better check it out…)

Protecting forests is critical because they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Each year, about 50,000 square miles of forest disappear around the world, equal to the size of Pennsylvania. The burning and clearing of tropical forests is responsible for nearly 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas pollution, or more than all the world’s cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships combined!

If you are interested in learning more, visit our partners’ websites. They are doing some fantastic and innovative work that we are really proud to support.

Tagged: Conservation

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Disney Differences, Walt Disney World Resort