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nergy giant Gazprom, the initiator of Football for Friendship, is encouraging participants of the program to support its ecological initiative to save a rare lemur species.

This year, the program has decided to lend its support to the Happy Buzz Day campaign, which is dedicated to raising awareness on rare and extinct animals across the globe. The campaign is financially supported by Nepal, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia.

This year’s campaign will provide assistance to the wellbeing of the red ruffed lemur, one of the rarest lemur species in Madagascar. All financial support will be channeled through the Duke Lemur Center.

The ecological initiative is aimed at drawing the world’s attention to environmental protection and raising awareness on how humans should coexist with nature.

“It is important for us to tell the young generation that only through common efforts can we preserve the world we are living in,” Gazprom said in statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The Football for Friendship program, which was established in 2013, promotes a healthy lifestyle, soccer as a sport and the values of friendship, tolerance and open-mindedness.

The program, supported by FIFA, UEFA and the Olympic and Paralympic committees, has given 3,700 participants a stage for social bonding, while encouraging them to live a healthy lifestyle.

This year, the program runs from Feb. 15 to June 15 in Moscow, Russia, the host of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.