Note to Santa: Skip the slippers, scarves and skivvies. I want to protect a bison, save an acre of tropical rain forest and safeguard a stretch of pristine coral reef.

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Note to Santa: Skip the slippers, scarves and skivvies. I want to protect a bison, save an acre of tropical rain forest and safeguard a stretch of pristine coral reef.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, Nov. 13 -/E-Wire/-- --Tired of giving gifts that do nothing more than clutter closets? Be the talk of the family this holiday season by adopting a bison for your favorite nephew, protecting an acre of tropical rain forest for your uncle, or safeguarding a stretch of untouched coral reef for your daughter. Just think of the thank you notes.

This year, creative holiday shoppers have the opportunity to give a unique gift. The Nature Conservancy has three programs (Adopt an Acre, Rescue the Reef and Adopt-A-Bison) that provide individuals with the opportunity to be directly involved in the conservation of three endangered habitats, tropical rain forests, coral reefs and tallgrass prairie.

For $75 to Adopt an Acre or Rescue the Reef, your special someone will receive a personalized certificate acknowledging that the donation is protecting rain forest habitat in Ecuador or coral reef near Venezuela. In addition, donors will receive a color decal and project sheet that describes the local area and animals as well as a subscription to Nature Conservancy magazine.

For a $40 donation to Adopt-A-Bison, the recipient will get a personalized bison adoption certificate with a color photo of one of the 1,600 bison that roam the Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma. Donors to Adopt-A-Bison will also received a subscription to "Prairie Thunder," a quarterly illustrated newsletter that describes the Conservancy's efforts to protect the tallgrass prairie that these bison call home. All contributions are tax deductible.

"These unique gifts will last long after the holiday decorations are put away,"said Steve McCormick, president of The Nature Conservancy. "Giving or receiving these gifts provides someone with the satisfaction of knowing that he or she is helping to protect some of the most special and important places in the world."

Information about each of the programs, along with online donation forms, can be found on the Conservancy's Web site at http://www.nature.org/adopt. Those wanting to donate to Adopt an Acre or Rescue the Reef can also call toll-free (800) 842-3678. For Adopt-A-Bison, call (918) 585-1117. Donations made prior to Dec. 7 will receive certificates in time for Christmas. All donations will be processed until Christmas Eve, and certificates will be mailed immediately.

How quickly is the rain forest, the most threatened ecosystem on Earth, being destroyed?

Every second of every day, an area the size of two football fields is lost. That's 172,800 football fields per day. Seven days a week.

This year, money raised through the Adopt an Acre program is helping The Nature Conservancy work with our local conservation partner in Ecuador, Fundacion Antisana, to safeguard 300,000 acres in Antisana's Ecological Reserve. This area provides refuge for the endangered spectacled bear and approximately a quarter of EcuadorÃs 100 remaining condors. The Reserve is part of the larger Condor Bioreserve, an area that supports the largest concentration of biological diversity in the Western Hemisphere. To date, the Adopt an Acre program has protected more than 600,000 acres of rain forest throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse, oldest and species-rich ecosystems on Earth. Some reefs are almost 6,000 years old. Reefs provide numerous environmental and economic benefits including protecting our shorelines from erosion; commercial and recreational fishing; ecotourism and a source of medicines. Unfortunately, many of our coral reefs are being destroyed as a result of pollution, overfishing and other human induced impacts.

The Rescue the Reef program has helped protect reef ecosystems in Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, the Florida Keys, the islands of the South Pacific and the Caribbean.

This year the Conservancy is working in Venezuela in partnership with two local conservation organizations, the Los Roques Scientific Foundation and the Venezuelan park service, to quell the threats to the Los Roques National Park. Los Roques was the first marine park established in the Caribbean and is the largest insular coral barrier in the western Atlantic. The Park is home to 100 percent of the Caribbean coral species and is one of the Conservancy 's top conservation priorities for the Caribbean.

The Adopt-A-Bison program helps support the free-roaming bison herd at the 38,000-acre Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma. The bison herd has grown from 300 head to 1,600 at the Preserve, and will eventually top 3,000. These huge romantic icons of North America play a vital role in shaping the picturesque patch-work quilt pattern of grasses and wildflowers at the preserve.

Adopt-A-Bison donations are used to purchase additional bison for the herd, provide health checks, and help support general herd management at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

AmericaÃs Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem once ranged from Texas to Minnesota, spanning more than 14 states and covering 142 million acres. Today, less than 10% of the original tallgrass prairie remains. Large, unbroken tracts of tallgrass prairie only exist now in the Flint Hills of Oklahoma and Kansas. As a functioning ecosystem, the tallgrass prairie is extinct.

Broadcast quality b-roll footage in Beta-Cam format of tropical rainforests, coral reefs, and bison isare available. Footage is available by calling Mike Horak at (703) 841-8105.

All photographs have unlimited web and print rights. They area saved in .tif files at 300dpi.

Adopt an Acre program image is available on the web at: www.nature.org/photoresources/adoptprograms/acre.tif Condor Bioreserve, Ecuador by Gregory Miller/TNC

Rescue the Reef program image is available on the web at: www.nature.org/photoresources/adoptprograms/reef.tif Sea star by Nancy Sefton

Adopt-A-Bison program images, are available on the web at: www.nature.org/photoresources/adoptprograms/bison.tif or www.nature.org/photoresources/adoptprograms/bison2.tif Bison by Harvey Payne (both)

The Nature Conservancy is a private, international, non-profit organization established in 1951 to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 12 million acres in the United States, and have helped through partnerships to preserve more than 80 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Asia and the Pacific. Visit the Conservancy on the world wide web at http://www.nature.org

The Nature Conservancy

http://http://www.nature.org

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