29 July 2008

Nokia Joins Hand with WWF India
In Campaign to Save Tigers

Nokia, the leading mobile communications company in India, today announced its partnership with WWF-India, one of the largest conservation organizations in the country, to be involved in WWF-India’s Tiger conservation programme. This announcement was jointly made by Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India, and Mr. D Shivakumar, VP and Managing Director, Nokia India, at an event held in Mumbai today.

Mr. Ravi Singh, WWF-India, said, “We are proud to partner with Nokia in India. Globally, Nokia has been involved in several conservation initiatives with the WWF Network and we are happy to see this relationship extend here.

This is an important step in bringing corporate institutional support for conservation, significantly tiger conservation, in India. This is an important beginning at this critical time for conservation in our country.”

“Nokia is a household name in India. Our commitment to India, to our consumers and to society is a priority for us. This initiative is one such commitment.,” said Mr. D. Shivakumar, VP and Managing Director, Nokia India.

“WWF is a tremendous organization and it is our proud privilege at Nokia to be associated with them on this important initiative” he added.

Mr. Ravi Singh quoted “The tiger population in India has seen an alarming decrease with their habitats shrinking and several threats including poaching taking a toll on their survival. To create a healthy ecological balance we need to work towards building long term sustainable models for wildlife conservation such that our future generations can experience the joy and beauty of our varied flora and fauna,”

Speaking on the scope of the partnership, Mr. Singh added, “The tiger conservation project encompasses to address the issues of alternative livelihood for local communities, environmental awareness and communications. The project will also look at some of the critical issues that South Western Ghats are facing today, including biodiversity loss and human wildlife conflict.”

The event marked the unveiling of the “Tiger Wall of Hope” by Priya Dutt, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, in the presence of eminent personalities. The Tiger Wall is created out of original pugmarks embedded in Plaster of Paris encased in acrylic.

Speaking about the Tiger Wall, Mr. Singh said, “These pugmarks are a grim reminder of the critical numbers of tigers left in our wild.”

During the event, a panel discussion was also organized that deliberated on various factors responsible for the depleting tiger population in India and the role that various sections of the society needs to play. The event was attended by Mr Jamshed N Godrej and his wife and well known bollywood & television stars like Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Faroque Sheikh, Dr. Anuj Saxena ,Mini Mathur, Kabir Khan and Kumar Gaurav.

As part of the association, Nokia and WWF-India will work towards providing education to the villagers for sustainable development, increasing awareness on tiger conservation, and identifying alternative livelihood programmes for the villagers around “National Protected Areas” such as Ranthambore national park.

Globally Nokia’s environmental strategy is to drive the use of safe substances and materials in products, improve the energy efficiency of products and create effective take-back and recycling programs. Energy efficiency and climate strategy are other important areas of continuous performance improvement by Nokia. In India, Nokia is extending this global vision to focus on local environment through its partnership with WWF.

Nokia has a robust Community Involvement program in Sriperumbudur, Chennai around its manufacturing facility that has contributed immensely in improving the socio-economic fabric of the region and its employees.