Save Your Logo: brands defend endangered species

Yahoo News 24 Mar 09;

PARIS (AFP) – French brands using animal logos such as Lacoste and its crocodile are being asked to help save endangered species via a new international campaign titled "Save your logo."

"Companies that have profited from the positive image of these animals now have a chance to show their recognition," said France's Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo at a launch of a campaign backed by the World Bank, the World Environment Fund (WEF) and the International Union for the Conservation of nature (IUCN).

Lacoste for one has signed up, but hundreds of other companies could join too -- Jaguar, Puma, Peugeot and its lion, Esso and its tiger in the tank.

Under the scheme, companies can donate up to 1.5 million euros over three years to a Save Your Logo fund held by the World Bank which will add up to 33 percent of the donations received.

Donors would benefit from a tax cut of up to 60 percent of the donation, but limited to 0.5 percent of turnover.

According to the IUCN, at least one bird out of eight, 25 percent of mammals and one out of every three amphibian are in danger of extinction.