A Rare Success

With Ecoprint, the conference and exhibition devoted to sustainable printing, being launched in Berlin (http://www.ecoprintshow.com), this is an opportune moment to consider the plight of the St Lucia parrot.

In 1977, this particular parrot was on the verge of extinction. Commissioned by the government to save the species, conservationist Paul Butler tried to establish a sanctuary for the bird – and impose tough penalties on those disturbing it. All he lacked was public support. So he created a parrot mascot, Jacquot, printed T-shirts, persuaded hotels to support the campaign with stickers and even convinced a local band to record a song about the mascot.

By making the parrot a symbol of national pride, he created a groundswell of support for the sanctuary. Today, there are 1,700 St Lucia parrots in this West Indies island state. That success was the inspiration for an organisation called Rare (http://rareconservation.org) which builds on such bright spots to change behaviours to protect the environment across the world. Near Dongting Lake in central China, Rare has even run a billboard campaign to encourage locals to report sightings of the endangered finless porpoise.

Rare’s credo is simple. Build on what’s good, replicate it as rapidly as possible and recognise that the most effective way to alter human behaviour is to empower the people whose habits you are trying to change.

There’s a lesson in there for every company striving to become more sustainable.