Timberland announced a global commitment to green 300 communities in the next two years, and to plant one million trees by 2010. Over the course of Earth Day 2008, Timberland will complete 160 greening projects in 27 countries from the U.S. to Japan, Spain to Germany. About 2,100 Timberland volunteers and 7,200 recruited volunteers will work on community greening projects across the globe for a total of more than 60,000 hours.

Jeff Swartz, president and CEO of Timberland kicked-off Timberland's global Earth Day initiative in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City.

“Service is at the core of our culture and we are committed to sustainable greening,” said Swartz. “Having access to nature every day is so important to health and happiness, and at Timberland we want to leverage our collective strength to bring a sustainable piece of nature into every community around the globe.”

Some examples of Timberland projects taking place in celebration of Earth Day include:

US events:

o Partnering with the Sustainable South Bronx to green five inner city community areas in New York
o Hosting a recycling information booth at the Earth Day Festival in San Marcos, TX
o Beach clean up at Anastasia State park in St Augustine, FL
o Planting citrus trees and removing invasive plant species at the California State Park in Riverside, CA.
o Beach clean up around the Brigantine Marine Mammal Stranding Center in NJ
o Partnering with the “Green-Up Orlando” program to clean up and plant trees in the inner city of Orlando, Florida
o Landscaping at the Jericho Circle Residential Council in Aurora, IL

Global events:

o Assembling compost bins, laying paving stones and planting at Battersea Park in London
o Maintaining footpaths around the Rhinefall in Neuhausen/Schaffhausen, Switzerland
o Mangrove clean up and reforestation in Singapore
o Maintaining fragile Juniper trees in a protected forest in Enschede, Holland
o Clearing invasive species and planting more than 400 trees along the banks of Barcelona's Tordera River
o Habitat conservation at the Hong Kong Wetland Park, including weeding, removing tree stumps and planting native plant seedlings
o Clean up, mowing and maintaining an inhabitable environment for wild birds at the Tokyo Wild Bird Park

Beyond its commitment to community greening, Timberland is also dedicated to becoming a carbon neutral company by cutting back emissions, using renewable energy sources and supporting environmental projects that help alleviate the company's remaining carbon pollution.

# # #