PUMA AND UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME ANNOUNCE ’PLAY FOR LIFE’ DONATION RECIPIENTS

Proceeds from ‘The Play For Life’ Campaign to Fund Conservation Programs in Africa in Support of the International Year of Biodiversity

PUMA^® and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have announced three major conservation programmes in Africa as beneficiaries of the ‘Play For Life’ campaign, a World Cup inspired partnership to support the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Proceeds generated from the campaign will be donated to Support for Elephants in the Ivory Coast and Liberia, Promoting Community Participation in Gorilla Conservation in Nigeria and The African Lion: King Without A Kingdom in Zambia.

PUMA^® and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) partnered this year to launch the ‘Play For Life Campaign’, a global initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of species and habitat conservation among football fans and the general public. Fans were able to vote for their favourite cause on FACEBOOK.COM/PUMA and via a UNEP enabled website, resulting in the three beneficiaries being chosen for the campaign donations.

“PUMA has a long standing relationship with Africa and African Football, and as a corporation dedicated to sustainable futures, we could not ignore the growing environmental challenges that face the region,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA.  “With 13 sponsored African national football teams, we were uniquely positioned and honored to help champion this cause with UNEP”.

The ‘Play for Life’ campaign promoted the International Year of Biodiversity through a combination of events, social networks, PUMA retail and fundraising activities and public service announcements with Cameroon footballer Samuel Eto’o.  Each element of the programme encouraged the public to take action and get involved.

Satinder Bindra, UNEP’s Director of Communications, said: “Through this valuable partnership with PUMA, we are enabling millions of football fans around the globe to play an active role in conservation. The ‘Play For Life’ donations will benefit major African conservation projects.

“In the Ivory Coast and Liberia, we will support a project that focuses on creating and preserving migration corridors for the elephants. In Zambia, we will support the provision of accurate estimates of lion populations and the development of national management strategies for their conservation. In the Mbe Mountains, we will support the hiring and training of ecoguards and Gorilla guardians. We hope that this collaboration will empower ordinary people to play a part in landmark conservation projects. ”

Please visit www.africa.puma.com for more information on the ‘Play for Life’ campaign, the beneficiaries, or to purchase products.