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Contact: THE
NATIONAL FORUM ON CHILDREN AND NATURE Arlington, VA (November 12, 2008) – The National Forum on Children and Nature today announced its endorsement of 30 creative demonstration projects across the nation that reconnect kids with nature. These projects promise to improve children’s health and well-being. "The Forum celebrates these projects for demonstrating how to get kids back outdoors,” said Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund, which hosts the Forum. “This is critical for children’s health--and for the future of our environment. Saving a generation is not a spectator sport. These ideas invite corporate leaders, educators, community planners, government officials and others into the game.” Children have a basic right to a healthy, whole childhood. Despite major advances in medicine, education and other fields, however, kids today are developing chronic health conditions--such as obesity and depression—earlier and more frequently than ever before. Growing evidence links the decline in children’s health, in part, to their disconnect with nature, including less active time outdoors. Recognizing an urgent need to reconnect kids with nature, The Conservation Fund launched the National Forum on Children and Nature in 2007. The Forum includes 51 dynamic public and private leaders and is chaired by Governors M. Jodi Rell (CT), Edward Rendell (PA), Mark Sanford (SC) and Brian Schweitzer (MT), with honorary co-chair Richard Louv, bestselling author of “Last Child in the Woods.” The mayors of Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago are Forum members, as are the CEOs of The North Face, REI and the National Audubon Society, among other organizations. The Forum’s mission is to:
Over the past year, the Forum solicited and vetted 560 proposals from demonstration projects seeking endorsement. Forum advisory panels culled the best ideas for investment in children’s health through nature, particularly in the areas of education, technology and community. Ultimately, the Forum endorsed 30 projects, based on their relevance, impact and sustainability. By endorsing these projects, the Forum commits to raising visibility and support for them. Collectively, these 30 projects bring nature back to kids in urban neighborhoods and rural communities, reaching preschoolers, school-age kids and teens across different races and backgrounds. From public housing to wilderness adventure, science education to prescribing nature, these projects serve as innovative models for community leaders, planners, educators and others who want to take concrete steps locally to reconnect kids with the great outdoors. To learn more about the Forum and projects, see www.forum-on-children-and-nature.org.
### Projects Endorsed by the National Forum on Children and Nature The
Birds & The Bees Challenge # # # About
The Conservation Fund
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