Go Penguins
23 November 2009
Liverpool has become a polar wonderland, with more than 200 larger-than-life, brightly designed penguins on display throughout the city to raise awareness of climate change.
WWF is an official partner of Go Penguins, a mass-participation public art event commissioned by Liverpool City Council as part of their Year of the Environment.
The three-foot and five-foot tall recyclable fibreglass penguins, positioned all around the city, each started off as a blank 3D canvas which artists, local schools and community groups were invited to decorate.
Igniting the creative spirit of the city, the colourful finished penguins – including designs from celebrities like Paul O’Grady and ex-footballer Graeme Le Saux – were unveiled on 22 November and will remain on display in small colonies across the city until January 2010.
Go Penguins was developed by creative team Wild in Art, and is the centrepiece of Liverpool’s Christmas extravaganza A Winter's Trail, in which a series of special penguin-themed events take place across the city.
What Go Penguins is all about
Liverpool’s festive spectacular aims to raise awareness of climate change by encouraging people to reflect on global warming, and specifically ice melting in the polar regions.
Go Penguins coincides with the UN Climate Summit, held in Copenhagen this December, where WWF and others are calling for a fair, binding global climate deal to be agreed.
Compelling evidence from both north and south polar regions makes it clear that global temperature increase must be kept well under 2°C. Our head of campaigns, Colin Butfield, says: “Between half to three-quarters of major Antarctic penguin colonies could decline or even disappear if global temperatures are allowed to climb more than 2°C.
“Go Penguins is a great initiative to encourage environmental awareness and remind people of the need to act to tackle climate change now.”
Actor, comedian and WWF Ambassador Alistair McGowan has lent his support to the project, and says: “Go Penguins is a wonderful way to inspire us all to think about the environment and our future and the little things we can do differently that may save the lives of this beloved, treasured animal.“
Other celebrities, including WWF supporters Paul O’Grady and Graeme Le Saux, have thrown their creative flair into the mix by contributing their own penguin designs.
O’Grady’s ‘Owl Ma’, inspired by local ladies from his Liverpool childhood, and Le Saux’s Van Gogh-tribute ‘Vincent’ are among 50 selected penguins that will be auctioned at a special event in February, with WWF receiving 25% of funds raised to help our work.
Adopt a real penguin
The flurry of penguin-inspired activity in Liverpool also coincides with the launch of our ‘Adopt a Penguin’ campaign, which lets wildlife lovers adopt five Adélie penguins in an area of the Antarctic known as ‘Adélie land’.
Numbers of these penguins have plummeted over the last 25 years due in part to changes in sea-ice cover caused by the effects of climate change.
Adopters will receive updates throughout the year about their adopted penguins, and a host of other information about this engaging but threatened species and the polar regions.
The scheme will raise the funds needed to sustain our crucial research projects in the Antarctic and campaigning work to help create a network of protected areas in the southern polar region.
Support WWF throughout the year by adopting an Adélie penguin for yourself, or as a gift for someone else this Christmas.
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