WWF around the world
WWF has a powerful impact on vital environmental issues both here in the UK and around the world. Here is just a small selection of our work in the past year.
UK
- We were instrumental in getting the Welsh assembly government to set a target to reduce CO2 emissions in Wales by 3% each year – the first government in the world to commit to this.
- Groundbreaking work by us in Scotland to promote natural flood management techniques was recognised by environment minister, Mike Russell, as essential to the Scottish government’s future flood protection strategies.
- In Northern Ireland, we worked in partnership with central and local government to challenge 100 households to reduce their ecological footprint. They achieved a 25% reduction in the impact their energy, food, transport and waste has on the environment.
- After years of intensive work by WWF with partners across the whole palm oil industry, certified sustainable palm oil is now being made available in the UK and EU. WWF has been closely involved in setting standards to prevent the loss of valuable forest to palm oil plantations and reduce the impacts of plantations on species like the orang-utan. We have also put pressure on buyers of palm oil globally to only source sustainably, resulting in a switch to using sustainable palm oil by a number of major UK supermarkets and manufacturers.
Europe
- A third population of the critically-endangered Iberian lynx has been discovered in Spain. Although comprising just 15 individuals, this separate breeding population could be vital, as only 110 Iberian lynx were previously thought to exist. We have gained a commitment from regional governments in central Spain and Portugal to work together for the long-term conservation of the species and its habitat.
Arctic
- We have helped deliver a 50% decrease in illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Barents Sea since 2005. A significant amount of cod entering the UK comes from there.
Asia
- We helped to develop a new 10-year action plan for conserving Indonesia’s orang-utans. This includes work to reduce deforestation for timber, pulp and palm oil plantations, which has eradicated much of the orang-utan’s habitat and resulted in a population reduction of about 50,000 apes in the last 35 years.
- Our efforts have led to a third national park being established in the Amur-Heilong region, which spans part of Mongolia, Russia’s Far East and eastern China. Two-thirds of the new 4,300 sq km park is currently inhabited by endangered Amur tigers, and the area acts as a vital corridor for tigers to reach other suitable habitat.
- Thanks in part to our support, the Indonesian government has committed to more than doubling the area of Tesso Nilo National Park – the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatra large enough to support a viable elephant population, and a vital area for critically endangered Sumatran tigers. To ensure the commitment is effectively implemented, we will strengthen efforts to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements in the forest.
- An urgent appeal by us to national and regional governments in India has helped to halt a dramatic surge in rhino poaching in Assam, north-east India. We provided funding for equipment, building staff camps, and employing additional rangers. A number of poachers have subsequently been arrested.
- In India, a recent tiger survey revealed alarmingly low numbers. WWF is now working with governments and partners to drive forward a strategy that will help to conserve tigers in those landscapes which have been identified by the world’s top tiger experts as the most important for their survival.
- Authorities in China launched a crackdown on websites that openly trade in animal products made from threatened species, following a study by WWF’s wildlife trade monitoring arm, TRAFFIC. The study found 4,291 advertisements for illegal wildlife products on auction sites serving mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
- To help tackle the threats of increased flooding in the central and lower regions of the Yangtze river in China, we helped 22 wetland nature reserves join together to manage an area of 12,000 sq km. By working together these wetland reserves will be able to absorb significant amounts of flash flooding, as well as reduce pollution and protect some of the Yangtze's most endangered species including the finless porpoise.
Americas
- As a result of a zero deforestation law that we helped to bring about in Paraguay, the high levels of deforestation that threatened the country’s Upper Parana Atlantic Forest have been reduced by a massive 90-95% since 2002.
- We started an ecological survey in Brazil’s Altamira National Forest, in the Amazon, to map areas that are suitable for timber production and those that are of high conservation value. As well as uncovering many possible new species, the survey mapping will help us develop a forest management plan that will allow forest cover to be maintained while a sustainable forest-based economy is developed. The lack of economic incentives to conserve forests is one of the main root causes of forest loss in the Amazon.
Africa
- In Kenya, conflict between people who rely on water from the Waseges river has been reduced thanks to a WWF initiative. We developed an irrigation timetable for each of the 40 registered groups that draw water from the river, helping to regulate its flow. With our support, over 300 small ponds have also been excavated in the region to store storm water – demonstrating to farmers the benefit of harvesting rain in order to extend the growing season. Most of these have also been populated with fish, which provide people with an extra source of income and food.
- The Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the largest wetland site listed for protection under the Ramsar Convention (a treaty that protects wetlands of international importance) thanks to our support. The 65,696 sq km site, more than twice the size of Belgium, contains the largest area of fresh water in Africa. It contributes to the regulation of flooding and the region’s climate, and provides water for wildlife and millions of people.
Oceania
- In Fiji, we supported communities in turtle conservation and monitoring activities. Our roadshow drew strong support for the extension of the existing moratorium on turtle harvesting. On the island of Yadua, a nesting hawksbill turtle was satellite tagged – a first for Fiji. This will help us track the movement of turtles in the region, and to define appropriate conservation measures.
- We helped to drive the establishment in New Guinea of protected areas covering two million hectares of savannah, forests and wetlands that are home to millions of birds, marsupials and plants. The communally-owned wildlife management areas in the Transfly area are designed to promote sustainable use of natural resources, help local communities and save habitats and species.