Dr. Mark Penning, Vice President of Disney’s Animals Science and Environment, has just published an article on the National Geographic Voices online blog. Click here to read Dr. Penning’s take on Connect to Protect at Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Through the Connect to Protect program, guests used the My Disney Experience app to learn about conservation efforts and partake in interactive missions that connected them with the local animal and plant life on Pandora. After completing one or more missions, guests unlocked a contribution, up to $10, from Disney Parks through the Disney Conservation Fund. They could then choose how that contribution would help protect or restore habitats important to one of 10 threatened categories of animals: apes, elephants, butterflies, coral reefs, cranes, monkeys, rhinos, sea turtles, sharks & rays and tigers.

Thanks to the support of more than 300,000 guests who participated in Connect to Protect, we reached our $1 million commitment which unlocked grants of $100,000 to each of 10 projects committed to protecting habitats for at-risk wildlife.

Make sure to check out Mark Penning’s National Geographic Voices blog post. You can also learn more about Disney’s conservation efforts at Disney.com/conservation and DisneyAnimals.com.