Great Lakes Forever Launches Chicago Campaign
June 8, 2005

Following a successful pilot program in Wisconsin during the summer of 2004, Biodiversity Project is currently launching the first expansion of the Great Lakes Forever program. Thanks to the support and leadership of John G. Shedd Aquarium, Great Lakes Forever will be working to build awareness of the Great Lakes' value and vulnerability in Chicago during the summer of 2005.

To celebrate World Ocean Day on June 8, 2005 with a freshwater twist, Shedd announced that it is intensifying its commitment to one of the world's greatest natural resources by launching a major conservation initiative to draw attention to the value - and the vulnerability - of the complex Great Lakes ecosystem.

Working with Biodiversity Project and their advisors, Shedd is taking a leadership role in the Chicago expansion of Great Lakes Forever, originally launched in Wisconsin 2004. Great Lakes Forever aims to get people thinking and talking about these magnificent bodies of water that 37 million people in the Great Lakes region, including residents of Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto, depend on for their drinking water, recreation, food and quality of life. More importantly, Great Lakes Forever wants to inspire Chicago-area residents to take action to ensure that these precious resources are protected far into the future. According to Shedd, their exhibits, public programs, special events and educational outreach will also increasingly focus on Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.

"Shedd Aquarium has both the opportunity, and perhaps most importantly, the responsibility to use our mission, our exhibits, our people and our programs to make a difference in the Great Lakes," said Ted Beattie, president and CEO of Shedd Aquarium.

Although Great Lakes Forever was initiated in Wisconsin, the program has had a Chicago connection for several years. The Chicago-based Joyce Foundation provided some of the seed money to design and launch the program, and several Chicago-area environmental leaders have served as advisors for the program since 2003 - including Alliance for the Great Lakes and Chicago Wilderness. Working with more than 50 partner organizations last summer, the Biodiversity Project successfully unveiled the Great Lakes Forever campaign throughout the state of Wisconsin. Shedd began to grow its relationship with the Great Lakes Forever in 2004 when our common goals became clear. Now, in 2005, Shedd and Great Lakes Forever are bringing that momentum to Chicago. The campaign will meet people where they meet the lake. Lakeshore parks, local yacht clubs, lakeside festivals and the annual Beach Sweep will all be venues for promoting Great Lakes awareness and conservation action.

Partnerships are important to the program, according to Jane Elder, executive director of the Biodiversity Project, who was especially appreciative of Shedd's support. "We're not just trying to achieve a short-term victory," noted Elder. "Instead, together, we're trying to raise the overall profile of a suite of threats to the Great Lakes . We're trying to build a deeper constituency for the lengthy effort that it will take to restore, protect and care for one of the world's largest freshwater ecosystems," she continued. Great Lakes Forever counts more than 20 advisor partners in the U.S. and Canada and many more communications partners throughout the region.

As part of its broad Great Lakes conservation initiative, Shedd Aquarium also announced plans for a Great Lakes invasive species exhibit, scheduled to open in autumn 2005. According to Shedd, the exhibit will educate visitors about the serious damage that invasive species have caused in the Great Lakes, including the extinction or depletion of native fish and sport fish and economic damages incurred through fisheries losses and remediation efforts.

"For more than 75 years, Shedd Aquarium, the world's largest indoor aquarium, has existed side by side with North America's largest body of fresh water: our Great Lakes," said Dr. Jeff Boehm, Shedd's senior vice president of conservation science. "The aquarium is a national leader and catalyst for helping the public appreciate aquatic life and understand how water affects everybody, particularly those of us who live near this tremendous freshwater resource. Shedd Aquarium has the distinction of being the only Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center on the Great Lakes . Our voice is one that reaches millions of people annually and we have come to be recognized for creating excitement about aquatic conservation issues and promoting solutions. This new initiative encourages the public to learn about the Great Lakes, celebrate them and find out how their actions impact them."

Great Lakes Forever is currently reaching out to other partners in the largest Great Lakes city, seeking to build on a coalition developed over the past two years. Biodiversity Project piloted the Great Lakes Forever initiative in Wisconsin, testing innovative communication techniques, such as educational drink coasters in coastal pubs and restaurants, signs in coastal state parks, and BioBlitz events, day-long biological inventories of neighborhood parks, conducted by scientists and the public.

Please check this site for regular updates and contact us if you're interested in joining our awareness efforts in Chicago or anywhere in the Great Lakes region.