A Look At The Disney Conservation Fund

Happy Earth Day Disney Nerds!

 

Have you ever wondered about where your dollar or two goes when you donate to the Disney Conservation Fund at the Parks? I thought in honor of Earth Day we’d explore exactly what the Disney Conservation Fund is and how they’ve helped our planet!

The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) was established on Earth Day in 1995 (Happy Anniversary!). It was established to protect wildlife and wild places around the world. DCF has supported projects spanning six continents, all five oceans, and more than half the countries. They have also awarded more than $70 million in grants as of 2017. These grants are supporting efforts to save wildlife, inspire action and protect the planet. DCF has helped protect more than 400 species around the world through these conservation grants. That’s an amazing feat!

Disney Conservation Fund has supported collaborations to “Reverse the Decline.” These collaborations are with international and local conservation partners. Their goal is to help stabilize and increase the population of 10 focus animal categories. These animals are apes, butterflies, coral reefs, cranes, elephants, monkeys, rhinos, sea turtles, sharks & rays, and tigers.

Here’s a great video from Disney in 2016 about their efforts! Click here.

The collaborations have even had the support of Disney Cast Members. More than 180 Cast Members from the Animals, Science, and Environment departments have participated directly in these projects.

Some great highlights from the work they’ve done on this project:

• 103,000+ square miles of critical forest habitat achieving protection to support endangered apes in the Democratic Republic of Congo through a Great Apes Conservation Action Plan (the Jane Goodall Institute)
• 2,000+ Atala butterflies and 1,000+ endangered Shaus’ swallowtail butterflies raised and released in the wild (University of Florida)
• 2,300 coral pieces grown, 12 coral nursery sites established, and 3,000+ coral fragments planted to repopulate reefs in The Bahamas (Perry Institute for Marine Science)
• 7 Siberian cranes outfitted with satellite transmitters during their migration to identify the most important wetland areas for conservation and protection (International Crane Foundation)
• 1 million+ acres of forest habitat surveyed to protect important areas for African elephants (Wildlife Conservation Society)
• 20 tons of plastic waste removed from the environment, 175+ families supported through income-generating programs, 164,000+ trees planted, and more than 37,000 acres of forest protected in Colombia and Brazil to protect cotton-top tamarin and golden lion tamarin monkeys (Associação Mico-Leão Dourado, Proyecto Tití, Save the Golden Lion Tamarin and Wildlife Conservation Network)
• 20 Rhino Protection Units (anti-poaching teams) in Indonesia trained in advanced monitoring practices to better protect two national parks and the Sumatran rhinos who live there (International Rhino Foundation)
• 238,000 pounds of marine debris removed from sea turtle habitats and 1.2 kilometers of sea turtle nesting habitat restored and cleared of debris (University of Florida)
• 156 species of sharks and rays studied to help identify where management or protection efforts are needed the most around the world (Wildlife Conservation Society and partners)
• 4,131 miles of forest patrolled by community rangers to protect tigers in Sumatra, Indonesia (Wildlife Conservation Society)

The Disney Conservation Fund doesn’t just help the animals. They work to protect the planet too!

Some of the things they’ve done to help the planet include:

• In collaboration with Fauna & Flora International’s community-based forest management program in Indonesia, Disney support helped strengthen the livelihoods of 52 communities while aiding in the protection of more than 200,000 acres of critical habitat to support endangered species including Sumatran tigers.
• Disney supported Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s implementation of eight water restoration projects across California and Arizona to improve water use efficiency on agricultural land, reduce the amount of water diverted from rivers and creeks, and improve water quality, recreation and wildlife habitats.
• In celebration of Disneynature films, The Walt Disney Studios and the Disney Conservation Fund have collaborated to support animals and habitats around the world, resulting in:
  • 3 Million trees planted in Brazil’s most endangered forest.
  • 40,000 Acres of a new marine protected area established to conserve coral reefs in The Bahamas.
  • 65,000 Acres of savanna protected to create conservation corridors in Kenya.
  • 130,000 Acres of wild chimpanzee habitat protected in the Congo, and 60,000+ local youths educated, and chimpanzees cared for.
  • 495,000 Acres of forest protected to restore key corridors for wild pandas and establish a new snow leopard conservation program in China.
  • Conservation projects across 400,000 acres of US national parks supported, park visitors educated, and animal and plant species protected.
  • Conservation projects supported across one million acres in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka, benefiting hundreds of species and protecting fresh drinking water for local populations.

Personally, I enjoy it when cast members at the parks ask if I want to donate to The Disney Conservation Fund. I also love knowing where my dollar or two is going and how it’s helping our animal friends and the planet for generations to come.

What do you think about the Disney Conservation Fund? Have you donated to it?

For more information about Disney’s Environmental Efforts, head over to www.disney.com/conservation

(All Photos Courtesy of Disney)