Biodiversity Exhibit Offers Families an Educational and Fun Adventure

4/12/2002

From: Nancy Engelhardt of the World Wildlife Fund, 202-778-9556, e-mail: nancy.engelhardt@wwfus.org

WASHINGTON, April 12 -- Crawl through a coral reef. Peer at the layers of life in a giant tropical tree. Select the sustainably harvested "catch of the day" at a fish market exhibit. Visitors can do all this and more at Biodiversity 911: Saving Life on Earth-a traveling exhibit produced by World Wildlife Fund.

Biodiversity is the wonderful variety of life on Earth -- from ants to orchids to savannas. But as most people know, our planet's biodiversity is decreasing at a rapid rate. In this exhibit, visitors will learn more about the reasons for this loss. And they'll learn a lot about why biodiversity is so important and what each of us can do to help slow the loss.

"This exhibit is designed to make biodiversity come alive for visitors," says Judy Braus, director of education at World Wildlife Fund. "Through science, humor, and creativity, it tells the story of biodiversity-from highlighting the Earth's stunning diversity to helping visitors understand the urgency of biodiversity loss."

The exhibition's centerpiece is the Biodiversity Theater. Here visitors will see an all-new short film on biodiversity produced by Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromit and the feature film Chicken Run. The film takes you into a hospital emergency room where claymation creatures are being treated for a variety of ailments. Lighthearted in tone, the film introduces some serious issues, including deforestation, pollution, climate change, and wildlife trade.

From the theater, visitors can move out into the six supporting exhibit areas, each centered on a different character and issue from the film. Each exhibit area includes hands-on interactives such as computer games, cartoons and "prescriptions for the future," which describe positive ways people around the world are making a difference and include places to go for more information.

In the resource area, younger visitors can dance along with a music video by the popular children's entertainer Billy B., or play with an incredible menagerie of animal puppets. Using an interactive map developed by World Wildlife Fund and the National Geographic Society, visitors can see the world through a new bio-geography lens, exploring the Earth's amazing ecoregions around the world and how scientists study biodiversity. And at the "Difference of One" computer kiosk, visitors find out what they can do to get more engaged in the environmental issues that are most important to them.

An interactive Web site based on the Biodiversity 911 exhibition includes on-line activities, a virtual walk-through, and additional information and resources on biodiversity. The Web site is located at http://www.biodiversity911.org.

"Our hope is that visitors will leave the exhibit well-informed and eager to tackle the challenges of biodiversity loss," says Diane Wood, WWF's vice president of research and development. "We also hope the positive stories and science profiles in each area will leave our visitors inspired and believing that everyone has a role to play in protecting biodiversity-or what we call 'the real world wide web!'"

Biodiversity 911: Saving Life on Earth was developed by World Wildlife Fund in partnership with Jeff Kennedy Associates, Inc., Aardman Animations, and the Institute for Learning Innovation. The National Science Foundation and the Mars Foundation provided major funding for the project. Additional support was provided by the American Honda Foundation and Eastman Kodak Company.

The Biodiversity 911 tour is managed by the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, and is currently on display in Bettendorf, Iowa and Norwich, Vermont. This summer the exhibit will travel to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Editor's Note: Photos of the exhibit are available in electronic format from Nancy Engelhardt, 202-778-9556; e-mail: nancy.engelhardt@wwfus.org.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), known worldwide by its panda logo, leads international efforts to protect the diversity of life on earth. Now in its fourth decade, WWF works in more than 100 countries around the globe.