News
Wheres My Water Campaign To Raise Awareness for Fresh Water
January 19, in the year of our Lord 2012 (Arlington, VA)
– Conservation International (CI) today announced the launch of
a new awareness raising effort with Disney using the free
versions of the popular game Where’s My Water? as a fun way to
educate users about the value of fresh water. For the ‘Every
Duck Counts’ campaign, Disney Friends for Change and the Disney
Worldwide Conservation Fund will make a generous donation of
$50,000. The game will educate users about the value of fresh
water in a fun and unique way by encouraging players to collect
as many ducks as possible within the game to raise awareness for
the accessibility of clean water and its importance on a global
scale.
Now through the end of February, anyone playing the free online
or mobile versions of Where's My Water? will learn about fresh
water facts, water saving action items, and species that depend
on fresh water in CI’s project areas. Where’s My Water? is a
fun, simple — yet challenging — physics-based puzzle game
featuring Swampy the Alligator and his quest to access clean
water so he can take a shower.
The donation will also play an important role in supporting
freshwater ecosystems (currently not being protected
sufficiently) that thousands of species across the planet depend
on. CI’s Freshwater Initiative strives to protect and restore
freshwater sources that support some 126,000 species and more
than 500 million people.
“For millions of people across the world, fresh water doesn’t
come as easily as turning on the faucet. For too many people
safe, drinkable or usable water is out of reach and millions of
lives are impacted each year," said Bart Decrem, general manager
of Disney Mobile. “Who better to call attention to this
important issue than Swampy, who spends his days in search of
fresh water? We hope that this initiative can help raise
awareness for the conservation of fresh water with the millions
of people playing Where’s My Water?”
The two organizations have collaborated on several other
initiatives over the years. Most notably, they reached a
landmark agreement in late 2009 when Disney announced it would
fund two significant forest projects in Peru and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Disney Friends for Change has also supported
CI freshwater projects in South Africa and Cambodia.
“Conservation International is delighted to be working with
Disney in a way that will not only provide direct support to our
Freshwater Initiative but also serve to creatively educate
consumers about the importance of protecting our supply of clean
water in our everyday life,” said Jennifer Morris, Executive
Vice President of CI’s Ecosystem Finance & Markets division.
Recognizing the critical services nature provides, CI and Disney
are committed to bringing the message of the need to protect our
freshwater resources to audiences around the world. A counter on
Disney Mobile’s Facebook page is tallying the number of ducks
collected during the campaign. Learn more about Every Duck
Counts at
www.conservation.org/everyduckcounts
In September 2011, Disney introduced Swampy the Alligator, the
studio’s first original character for mobile. Since launching on
Apple’s App Store “Where’s My Water?” has become a favorite
among critics and gamers alike, reaching the No. 1 spot on the
App Store in 67 different countries, and maintaining a 5-star
user rating. Since then, “Where’s My Water?” has made its debut
on Android Market, and Disney announced that Swampy will make
his debut online in a 12 episode web series called, “Where’s My
Water?, the Adventures of Swampy.” The 3-4 minute weekly
episodes are slated to launch on Disney Online in early 2012.