Wal-Mart to help wildlife

Associated Press
Wednesday, April 13, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, pledged Tuesday to spend $35 million US compensating for wildlife habitat lost in America beneath its corporate "footprint."

Hectare for hectare, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would buy an amount of land equal to all the land its stores, parking lots and distribution centres use over the next 10 years. That would conserve about 56,000 hectares in the United States as "priority" wildlife habitat.

The money will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private nonprofit group created by the U.S. Congress in 1984 to leverage federal dollars for conservation projects, including about 126,000 hectares in Maine alone.

"We introduced the concept of the offset program to Wal-Mart last year," said Max Chapman Jr., the foundation's chairman. "They were quick to say yes, and Wal-Mart's leadership is raising the bar in conservation."

It's the first time any U.S. corporation has pledged such an arrangement, according to Interior Department officials, who will help decide which places to conserve