World Wildlife Fund History:
The organization was formed as a charitable trust on September 11, 1961, in Morges, Switzerland, under the name World Wildlife Fund. It was an initiative of Julian Huxley and Max Nicholson, who had thirty years experience of linking progressive intellectuals with big business interests through the Political and Economic Planning think tank. There is also a head office in Toronto, Canada for the Canadian Fund.
In its deed of foundation, the organization stated its original mission to be the "conservation of world fauna, flora, forests, landscape, water, soils and other natural resources by the management of land, research and investigation, and publicity, coordination of efforts, cooperation with other interested parties and all other appropriate means."
In the last few years, the organization set up offices and operations around the world. The initial focus of its activities was the protection of endangered species. As more resources became available, its operations expanded into other areas such as the preservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of natural resources, and the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
In 1986, the organization changed its name to World Wide Fund for Nature, retaining the WWF initials, to better reflect the scope of its activities.
Wildlife:
With nearly a quarter of all mammal species and a third of amphibians threatened with extinction, there’s an urgent need to safeguard wildlife and the places in which they live.
The growing and unsustainable demand by people for natural resources is at the heart of the problem. The demands made by human activities – such as agriculture, forestry, energy production, road building and poaching – are all having a serious impact.
The growing danger from climate change could also result in devastating consequences for our natural environment in the coming years.
With limited resources and limited time to make the required impact, WWF has had to focus its efforts on species considered to be of special ecological, economic and cultural importance. We work to stabilise or increase their numbers through practical conservation programmes and by challenging the trade in endangered wildlife.
WWF also works with business, government and local communities to create sustainable solutions that take account of the needs of both people as well as nature. Only by doing this will we ensure good governance of our natural resources.
Why protect rare and endangered species?
Protecting the world's species and their habitats lies at the heart of WWF's mission to conserve the earth's biodiversity and was the prime reason for the organisation's establishment in 1961.
While important in their own right, species are also critical for maintaining the fundamental balance of ecosystems.
As charismatic icons, species also provide unique opportunities for promoting and communicating critically important conservation and environmental issues.
Forests:
We cannot protect species without conserving their habitat. Forests contain as much as 90% of the world's terrestrial animal and plant life.
Forests also provide raw materials for food, shelter and fuel, essential for the 1.2 billion people who live in extreme poverty around the world. And forests benefit our environment by regulating the climate, water cycles and soil erosion.
But the world's forests are in crisis. Only half of our original forest cover remains and, of that, only one-tenth is protected. We are currently losing around 13 million hectares of forest each year, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment.
Forests are a key focus of WWF’s global conservation work. We promote and campaign for the protection, responsible management and restoration of forests and we aim to address consumption issues that directly or indirectly drive key threats to forests.
The main causes of forest loss and degradation are illegal and destructive logging, unsustainable forest management, conversion to agriculture, and infrastructural development. Deforestation is responsible for 15-20% of global CO2 emissions.
To address these threats, WWF-UK promotes forest conservation, implements credible certification and sustainable forest management, and tackles illegal logging and trade. We also support forest conservation field programmes in the Amazon basin, Atlantic forest, Borneo, Colombia, the coastal forests of east Africa, the eastern Himalayas, and New Guinea. |
