WWF at 50 – From leading naturalist to nature’s leader

The world's best known conservation organization today celebrated fifty years of environmental achievements but warned that saving the planet in the next half century will require strong leadership from governments and business as well as the engagement of communities and consumers. In the fifty years since its establishment, the cutting edge conservation group has seen more than a billion hectares protected, several species brought back from the brink of extinction, and schemes such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) moving fisheries towards sustainability. But the combined and connected threats of climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss can yet reverse those gains, which demand even more effort from conservationists. Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International, said: We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far, but as the world changes, WWF needs to change, to go further, to reach out and address the new and  even more challenging threats to our environment. From its origins as a small group of committed wildlife enthusiasts, WWF has grown to one of the largest and most respected independent conservation organisations – supported by five million people and active in over 100 countries on five continents. Still working with its traditional partners in governments and the non-governmental community, WWF is also partnering increasingly with business to boost environmental policy in the corporate sector. Leape said: We are so grateful to all the individuals, governments, NGOs, and business leaders who have supported us and helped us pursue our goal. Our success is also theirs. In the world of conservation, we must recognise that we need to constantly reinvent ourselves to ensure lasting success. While catastrophic climate change may yet be avoided, scientists say that even as greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, the ten hottest years on record have occurred since 1990 and Arctic sea ice has declined to the lowest levels on record. Meanwhile, biodiversity loss is accelerating. One of the longest running measures of the state of biodiversity, WWF’s Living Planet report shows a consistent overall trend, a global decline of almost 30% between 1970 and 2007. Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF, said: WWF has no illusions about the tasks ahead, how urgent they are, how important they are, and how much help WWF will need. WWF launched Earth Hour, the world’s biggest demonstration against the destruction of nature, uniting hundreds of millions of people across the world. Earth Hour is a universal message of hope and action, a movement driven by a collective will of the world for conservation. Kakabadse concluded: Let’s celebrate today but return rapidly to our vital work of helping to create a world in which people live in harmony with the nature.

The world’s best known conservation organization today celebrated fifty years of environmental achievements but warned that saving the planet in the next half century will require strong leadership from governments and business as well as the engagement of communities and consumers.

In the fifty years since its establishment, the cutting edge conservation group has seen more than a billion hectares protected, several species brought back from the brink of extinction, and schemes such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) moving fisheries towards sustainability.

But the combined and connected threats of climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss can yet reverse those gains, which demand even more effort from conservationists.

Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International, said:

We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far, but as the world changes, WWF needs to change, to go further, to reach out and address the new and  even more challenging threats to our environment.

From its origins as a small group of committed wildlife enthusiasts, WWF has grown to one of the largest and most respected independent conservation organisations – supported by five million people and active in over 100 countries on five continents.

Still working with its traditional partners in governments and the non-governmental community, WWF is also partnering increasingly with business to boost environmental policy in the corporate sector. Leape said:

We are so grateful to all the individuals, governments, NGOs, and business leaders who have supported us and helped us pursue our goal. Our success is also theirs. In the world of conservation, we must recognise that we need to constantly reinvent ourselves to ensure lasting success.

While catastrophic climate change may yet be avoided, scientists say that even as greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, the ten hottest years on record have occurred since 1990 and Arctic sea ice has declined to the lowest levels on record.

Meanwhile, biodiversity loss is accelerating. One of the longest running measures of the state of biodiversity, WWF’s Living Planet report shows a consistent overall trend, a global decline of almost 30% between 1970 and 2007.

Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF, said:

WWF has no illusions about the tasks ahead, how urgent they are, how important they are, and how much help WWF will need.

WWF launched Earth Hour, the world’s biggest demonstration against the destruction of nature, uniting hundreds of millions of people across the world. Earth Hour is a universal message of hope and action, a movement driven by a collective will of the world for conservation.

Kakabadse concluded:

Let’s celebrate today but return rapidly to our vital work of helping to create a world in which people live in harmony with the nature.