News
Press releases
Thursday April 10th 2008
Attenborough launches Wildscreen's Google Earth Layer
Sir David Attenborough, Wildscreen's Patron, has today announced the organisation's latest project, a layer on Google Earth. The layer uses Google's mapping technology to raise the profile of a selection of endangered species from Wildscreen's ARKive project http://www.arkive.org.
Unveiling the new ARKive layer in Google Earth, Sir David Attenborough said: "Having spent over 50 years working in natural history broadcasting, I know how important technological innovation is for reaching new audiences. With the arrival of the Internet, there are now even more opportunities to bring the wonders of the natural world to a global audience. Google Earth is a really powerful way for Wildscreen to show the vital work it's doing with the ARKive project."
"Now, as well as viewing the thousands of films and photographs of the world's threatened species on the ARKive website, users can see exactly where in the world these species come from. It is visual, easy to understand, and another important step in helping us appreciate that without care and conservation many of our amazing plants and animals may soon be lost forever."
ARKive is a centralised collection of thousands of films and photographs of endangered species from around the globe, freely accessible online. Harriet Nimmo, Chief Executive from Wildscreen said, "ARKive contains a vast array of media donated from the world's best wildlife photographers and filmmakers. The project uses stunning imagery to build awareness of the world's species and Google Earth offers a new and exciting way to open up this free collection to new audiences."
The Google Earth Outreach programme has helped give Wildscreen the resources to use Google Earth and Maps to show ARKive's work to a mass audience. It means Wildscreen have been able to overlay written, audio and video information onto Google Earth in what is known as a layer and have their campaigns viewed by people across the globe.
The ARKive layer in Google Earth is an exciting new way for Wildscreen to be able to highlight their work. The ARKive layer can be found in the Global Awareness folder of the Featured Content section in Google Earth. To download Google Earth for free go to http://www.google.co.uk/earth.
Editor's notes
1. About Wildscreen
Wildscreen is a charity whose mission is to promote the public understanding and appreciation of the world's biodiversity, and the need for its conservation. The organisation's principal initiatives are the Wildscreen Festival (www.wildscreenfestival.org), the world's largest and most prestigious wildlife and environmental film festival and ARKive (www.arkive.org), a centralised collection of films and photographs of endangered species from around the globe, freely accessible online.
Wildscreen also runs WildPhotos (www.wildphotos.org.uk), the UK's foremost annual wildlife and nature photography symposium and WildFilmHistory (www.wildfilmhistory.org) an online guide to the pioneering people and landmark productions behind one hundred years of wildlife filmmaking.
2. About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising programme provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google's headquarters are in Silicon Valley, California with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.co.uk.
3. Broadcast quality footage
For free video content about Google Earth Outreach in Europe and new Global Awareness layers, please log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/google to preview and request video. You can receive broadcast-standard video digitally or by tape from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.
4. Images
Members of the press who would like a high resolution print quality image of a species featured on ARKive's Google Earth Layer – to accompany this story please contact amy.nicholas@wildscreen.org.uk.
