Bayer Corporation and the United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) are inviting North American students, ages six to 14, to enter the 20th annual International Children's Painting Competition (ICPC) on the Environment.

This year's theme, "Life in the Forests," marks 2011 as the United Nations International Year of Forests. Elementary and middle school students in the United States and Canada are encouraged to create artwork that depicts the effects forests have on the survival and well-being of the Earth's 7 billion people.

The artwork may be created using crayons, colored pencils, paints, etc. and must be submitted on either letter- (8.5 x 11 inch) or legal-sized (8.5 x 14 inch) paper. Entries must be received by UNEP RONA no later than April 15, 2011. For complete entry rules, visit www.BayerUS.com/MSMS or www.unep.org/rona.

Winners will be selected from each of UNEP's six regions. They are Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; North America; and West Asia.

The North American first-prize winner will receive two fully-paid trips. The first trip will be to Toronto, the North American host city for World Environment Day 2011, during the first week in June. While there, the winner will help open the fourth annual North American ICPC exhibition. The second trip will be to the 2011 Tunza International Children's Conference (date and location to be determined). Tunza is UNEP's worldwide youth forum. It brings students together to discuss environmental issues and share experiences.

"We are delighted to parter with Bayer to raise awareness of the important role of forests through the ICPC," said Amy Fraenkel, Director of UNEP RONA. "As the children create their pictures, they will learn important lessons about how forests provide shelter to people, plants and animals; serve as sources of food, medicine and clean water; and how they play a vital role in maintaining a stable global climate."

"Bayer's participation is part of our long-standing commitment to science education, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development," said Rebecca Lucore, executive director of the Bayer USA Foundation and manager of Bayer's Making Science Make Sense® program. "We're delighted to work again with UNEP on the 20th year of a painting competition that fosters students' environmental awareness."

About Bayer Corporation and Making Science Make Sense
Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and high-tech materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time Bayer creates value through innovation, growth and high earning power. The Corporation is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its role as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. Economy, ecology and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of equal rank. In North America, Bayer had 2009 net sales of approximately 7.7 billion euros (about $10.7 billion) and employed 16,300 at year end. For more information, go to www.bayerus.com.

Formalized in 1995, Making Science Make Sense is Bayer's Presidential award-winning initiative that advances science literacy across the United States through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and a national public education campaign led by astronaut, scientist and educator, Dr. Mae C. Jemison.

About the United Nations Environment Programme
Established in 1972 following the United Nation's Conference on the Human Environment, UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

About UNEP's Regional Office for North America (RONA)
The mission of UNEP's Regional Office for North America (RONA), which is located in Washington, D.C. and comprises Canada and the United States, is to: build support in the region for UNEP's work; to promote effective responses to international environmental challenges; and to foster cooperation on environmental issues between North America and the broader international community. To achieve this mission, RONA's strategy is to promote collaboration between UNEP and all sectors of North American society, including U.S. and Canadian governmental institutions, the private sector and civil society groups, and to provide UNEP with North American perspectives. For more information on UNEP RONA, go to: www.unep.org/rona.

About Bayer and UNEP
Bayer AG is the first company in the world to forge a long-term partnership with UNEP in the area of youth and environment. The partners first began cooperating on youth environmental projects in Asia in the late 1990s. In 2004, Bayer and UNEP signed a framework agreement to globalize this partnership. The partners have jointly organized a dozen environmental projects for young people around the world, including the TUNZA International Youth and Children's Conference, regional youth networks, the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program, the International Children's Painting Competition, the photo competition Ecology in Focus in Eastern Europe and TUNZA Magazine. In addition, Bayer Corporation in the United States supports UNEP's World Environment Day activities in North America.

Further information on the partnership between UNEP and Bayer is available on the Internet at: www.unep.bayer.com.

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Bayer: Science For A Better Life

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2015, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of EUR 46.3 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.3billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

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