Award for ecological project in Brazil

DaimlerChrysler is awarded the Trust/OAS Award for Corporate Citizenship in the Americas from the Organization of American States (OAS) for its POEMA project. The prize is intended to reward in particular the ecologically compatible creation of jobs in the tropical rainforests of Brazil. Launched in 1992 with the help of Daimler-Benz AG, as the company was then known, the POEMA (Poverty and Environment in Amazonia) project in Belém, Brazil, is an example of successful, long-term cooperation between the University of Pará, local farmers, and the carmaker. Natural fibres are made from coconuts planted in the region, and these are processed locally into car seats, backrests, head restraints and sun visors.