FOR INFORMATION July 21, 1998
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation BirdLife International Japan Wild Bird Association
NTT to Hold 4th Annual NTT World Bird Count
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) will hold the 4th Annual NTT World Bird Count event starting October 1 for a period of one month. Together with BirdLife International (BLI), a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organizations, and the Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ), NTT has been holding the NTT World Bird Count each year since 1995, with the aim of expanding the communication network of nature conservationists worldwide. For the fourth event, BLI, WBSJ and NTT have established a "World Bird Count Working Committee," which will actively promote the World Bird Count in nations around the world, with the object of attracting more participants than ever before. Support for operations, such as gathering of reports on bird species from all over the globe, will be provided by the BirdLife Partnership organizations. This 4th NTT World Bird Count will be the world's largest bird watching event to have taken place.
1.	Outline
During the event, bird watchers will report information about their observations of birds, such as the species of birds observed, the locations and the names of the observers. From all over the world, participants can send in their information, using multimedia such as the Internet, e-mail, facsimile and telephone, and the results will be distributed worldwide using the Internet. NTT hopes that through this event they will be able to perform the role of forming a worldwide network for bird lovers, and of distributing important conservation information on birds internationally from Japan.
(1)	Duration
October 1 to October 31, 1998
(2)	Entry
a)	Names of bird species seen or heard
b)	Date, location (including longitude and latitude) of bird watching
c)	Observer's name (or name of group), number of observers, E-mail address, telephone number, and mailing address
(3)	How to enter
Send the above information to "NTT World Bird Count" office by one of the methods listed,
a) FAX toll free number 0120-238666 b) Telephone toll free number 0120-004361 c) E-mail wbc@wnn.or.jp d) URL http://www.wnn.or.jp/wnn-n/w-bird/ *Application for entry are accepted 24 hours a day.Application in both Japanese and English are possible for e-mail and the URL *For more information about the entry procedure,please call 0120-017412(*)(toll free;this number is open from 9:00 to 17:00 weekdays)
(4) Homepage http://www.wnn.or.jp/wnn-n/w-bird/ information is provided in both Japanese and English
2.	Donations to BirdLife International
NTT has made a donation to BLI each year of the NTT World Bird Count, on the basis of how many species were observed during the count. This year, NTT will continue these donations, giving ¥1,000 per each species on the global list to be compiled from the reports (total upper limit of ¥5,000,000). The donations will be used by BLI for the International Bird Area (IBA) Conservation Projects1 in Asia.
3.	Related Events of the NTT World Bird Count
(1)	Campaign to protect Sumba Island, Indonesia In order to show an example of the work made possible through NTT's donations to BLI, we will introduce the world to the birds and nature conservation activities of the Sumba Island Nature Park Project in Indonesia. We will share the views of the people actively working toward conservation on this project, which is one of the regions Important Bird Area Project Sites.
(2)	Further donations are made possible NTT wants to encourage further fundraising for nature conservation. Collection of donations will be held at the NTT Group's online shopping mall "G-Square," enabling anyone to support the IBA Project. The methods available for donations are: 1) bank transfer, 2) credit card,3)electronic money via "Infoket2."(**) As a further method of fundraising for the IBA Project, we will also make available goods whose proceeds will be donated to the Sumba Island Nature Park Project and other IBA Project Sites.
(3)	World Maps of Threatened Bird Species The NTT World Bird Count participants have reported some very important observations of threatened species from around the world, and we intend to combine these reports and make them available over the Internet. These important survey results will be published here as World Maps of Threatened Bird Species, and will be available to all conservationists.
(4)	World Bird Count Photo Contest Konica Corporation and NTT will provide support for a photo contest on the theme of birds, to be held in the Internet Photo Gallery3 from September 1 to October 25. Send in photos by mail, and after the first round of judging, 108 pictures will be published on the home page of the NTT World Bird Count. The pictures will be classified into three categories, and two winners will be chosen from each category: one winner will be determined by votes from the public, and the second winner in each category will be chosen by a panel of judges. Voting will take place during November, with the Grand Prize and Special Prize being awarded for each category in early December.
Further information on the NTT World Bird Count, the Sumba Island Nature Park Project, donations and charity sales through the G-Square, and the Photo Contest will appear on the World Bird Count homepage at the end of August.
4.	Previous Results
The history of the NTT World Bird Count since 1996 shows that the number of people involved and the number of species reported has grown year by year:
	1. The 1st NTT World Bird Count was held in 1995, with the participation of 53,000 people from 51 countries observing 2,764 species. 2. The 2nd NTT World Bird Count in 1996 had 80,694 participants from 81 countries observing 5,317 species. 3. The 3rd NTT World Bird Count in 1997 had 184,376 participants from 88 countries observing 5,935 species around the world! This increase in awareness and interest in the NTT World Bird Count has created what we believe is the largest bird watching event in the world. We are applying for the Guinness Book of World Records to record the 3rd NTT World Bird Count as the largest bird watching event in history.
5.	Future Plans
NTT hopes to promote worldwide communication and distribution of information with the object of promoting nature conservation activities through introduction of bird watching and research activities of the IBA Projects worldwide. In the future, the company plans to increase these achievements by expanding and using themes in addition to bird watching.
1  IBA Projects, which are promoted by BLI, are research and conservation projects designated to protect important habitats of birds.
2  Infoket is an electronic coupon provided by NTT Printec Co. It can be easily obtained on the Web and can be used as a means of payment for online shopping.
3  The "Internet Photo Gallery" enables photographs to be exhibited on the Internet. Sales of photos are also possible. For further information, please contact:
(Reference)
(*)	Toll free number is available only in Japan. If you have any question, please call +81-3-5439-2540(this number is open from 9:00 to 17:00 weekdays)
(**)	Infoket is available only in Japan. * When you want to make a donation to World Bird Count from abroad,you can take two methods, bank transfer or credit card.
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