NORTH SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Next week Meat & Livestock Australia will launch a multi-media campaign promoting the environmental credentials of its livestock industry. The promotion is designed to coincide with World Environment Day on June 5.

Don Heatley, M.L.A. chairman, said the campaign is designed to promote the significant environmental achievements of livestock producers to those living in metropolitan areas at a time when community focus on the red-meat industry’s perceived impact on the environment is high.

"We kicked off our environmental communications campaign in March with newspaper advertising that coincided with the Earth Hour event, so this is our second initiative, which is much more extensive in terms of reach and duration," Mr. Heatley said. "This campaign is purposely tied to World Environment Day because we think it is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the industry’s commitment to the environment."

The goal of the campaign is provide examples of the environmentally-focused work undertaken every day by Australia’s livestock producers, such as tree-planting, protection of riparian zones and the preserving of areas of important biodiversity such as native wildlife habitat, he said.

"This campaign is about grass-roots livestock producers and their unwavering commitment to the land they manage to provide food for consumers and to protect it for future generations," Mr. Heatley added.