Saturday 24 December 2005

None of our work to conserve biodiversity and address global threats to people and nature would be possible without the continued backing of our members, supporters and donors. We are grateful to you all.

One of WWF's great strengths, which sets us apart from other environmental organisations, is that we are a truly global network operating in more than 100 countries with vastly different cultures and political systems.

Although we continue to work, as we always have, with local people throughout the world to protect species and habitats, an increasingly important part of our activities involves campaigning: lobbying governments to change laws, and constantly raising people's awareness of the critical state of the world's ecosystems.

Campaigns and communicating are central to our conservation initiatives, and frequently deliver strong results - even changes in the law. In 2005 we focused on climate change issues, banning dangerous chemicals, working for a Marine Act to improve the state of the UK's seas, promoting sustainable living at home, and developing plans for the world's first "green" Olympic Games here in the UK in 2012.

Of course, campaigns would be nothing without the support and participation of people like you. To see what our campaigns have achieved on climate change, sustainable living, and chemicals and health, click here. We're making progress... but of course there's much more to be done. Which is where you come in.

Away from campaigns, WWF's work around the world is helping to prevent the degradation of the planet's environment and natural resources in ways that matter. Here, we feature some of our recent achievements. More about these can be found throughout our website.

Giant pandas
A comprehensive survey by WWF and China's State Forestry Administration revealed that there are nearly 50 per cent more giant pandas surviving in the wild than was previously thought. The number is now set at 1,590, following arduous fieldwork by a team of 170 researchers across 23,000 square kilometres of terrain. "We ventured further, higher and deeper into panda habitat than ever before," explained WWF's Stuart Chapman, "and we discovered populations that were previously unknown."

UK legislation
The WWF-sponsored Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act came into force during the year. This requires UK Buildings Regulations to address sustainability issues, and was a central part of WWF's One Million Sustainable Homes campaign.

Education
The Department for Education and Skills selected a WWF publication, Pathways - a development framework for school sustainability, to help schools implement sustainable action plans. We are also helping the Department redesign part of its Teachernet website, and we will administer the area where schools will engage in online learning and post their development plans.

The London Olympics
The "One Planet Olympics" initiative devised by WWF, the BioRegional Development Group and the London 2012 bid team, set out a detailed plan by which the capital would deliver a genuinely sustainable Games and provide the template for future Olympiads. This initiative was incorporated into the winning bid accepted by the International Olympic Committee.

Rivers
WWF supporters sent nearly 6,000 e-mails to the government of Croatia urging it to stop river development and gravel excavation activities in one of the last remaining natural stretches of the Drava river. As a result of this campaign and other work by WWF and its local partners, the head of the country's water management authority resigned and the development was stopped.

Rhinos
In Kenya, 10 endangered black rhinos were moved to a secure location away from the country's national parks, where they had become prime targets for poachers. The moves were also necessary because of the animals' intolerance of other rhinos in their home space. In December, one of the rhinos gave birth to a female calf.

UK fisheries
WWF's support of the Marine Stewardship Council continued as four new fisheries in UK seas were certified, with more in the pipeline. These include two Hastings fisheries, and others covering Dover sole, bass and lobsters.

Tuna protection
WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife monitoring network, launched a global tuna conservation initiative to protect the world's tuna species by addressing both conservation and trade issues. This brings together the partnership's extensive existing work on tuna fisheries, and provides a strategy for the future management and conservation of tuna.

North Korea
WWF is cooperating with North Korea on endangered species and forest ecosystem assessments. Following a visit to country's forested areas along the Chinese and Russian borders, WWF and the government signed a protocol outlining future cooperation, including tiger and leopard conservation.

Forests
WWF gave £1.8 million towards the protection of the Amazon forest's biodiversity. It will go to a trust fund created to ensure the consolidation of protected areas, and an equal amount will be matched by the Global Environmental Fund. The aim is to create at least 50 million hectares of protected areas.

Whales
The International Whaling Commission adopted recommendations from WWF and others for tackling cetacean bycatch - accidental capture of whales, dolphins and porpoises in fishing nets, which kills more than 300,000 of these animals a year.

Deep sea protection
Years of lobbying by WWF led to a ban on bottom trawling and longline fishing in five vulnerable deep-sea areas in the North-east Atlantic Ocean. WWF continues to lobby the EU to protect deep-sea fish stocks, coldwater corals and undersea mountain habitats.

Treading carefully on the Earth
WWF's Ecological Footprint programme measures how our lifestyles impact on the planet and calculates how much productive land and sea is needed to feed us and provide all the energy, water and materials we use in our everyday lives. It also calculates the CO2 emissions generated from the oil, coal and gas we burn at ever-increasing rates, and it determines how much land is required to absorb our waste.

The programme has already led to the Welsh Assembly Government, along with Cardiff and Gwynedd councils, accepting footprint reduction, and to the South-east of England setting a target of stabilising its footprint by 2016.

The concept of Ecological Footprint has also been accepted by the UK government, and the Audit Commission has declared that it is useful for education, awareness-raising and evaluating policy effectiveness.

And finally...
The new year will of course bring with it new challenges, which we will face with a total determination to succeed.

If you would like to join WWF and be a part of our vital work to protect nature and the environment, visit our membership page.

To see the 2005 WWF-UK Annual Review, being published in January 2006, visit our annual review website

Or to make a donation so that our work can continue throughout the coming year, visit our donations page.

Again, we express our gratitude to all our supporters and well-wishers, and we offer our good wishes for your success throughout 2006.