Dr. Michael Otto, president of the Hamburg based Otto group, had declared environmental sustainability a business objective already in the 1980s. But when he established the Otto Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (Otto Stiftung für Umweltschutz) in 1993 he started an engagement far beyond his business-related activities. The foundation supports selected projects focusing on the protection of water and the habitats shaped and influenced by water. In order to reach this task the foundation collaborates with partners coming from all sectors - politics, science, economy, and environment protection. Supporting projects in Germany, Europe and Central Asia the Foundation has an international scope. Otto is convinced that environment protection concerns all of us: "Each and everyone of us should do his/her bit to conserve the environment for coming generations".
For his engagement Dr. Michael Otto in 2008 has been awarded the "Medal for Merits in the German Philanthropic Sector" (Medaille für Verdienste um das Stiftungswesen) by the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen (Association of German Foundations).
