Conservation Highlights 2010

Recent WWF achievements in protecting biodiversity and reducing humanity’s footprint in priority areas of the new global conservation programme.

Biodiversity

 / ©: National Geographic Stock/ Michael Nicols / WWF
Close up of a captive tiger's face (Panthera tigris), California, United States.
© National Geographic Stock/ Michael Nicols / WWF
WWF Priority Places and Species
WWF’s biodiversity meta-goal is to ensure the integrity of the most outstanding natural places on Earth. This includes the protection of biodiversity in high conservation priority areas, and restoring populations of those species with the highest ecological, economic and cultural value.

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People

 / ©: NSFC
Prof. Chen Yiyu, President of NSFC, accepted the 2009 WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal at the Buckingham Palace in London, UK, on Feb. 18, 2010. Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip awarded the certificate and gold medal to Prof. Chen, and WWF International President Ms. Yolanda Kakabadse attended the ceremony.
© NSFC
Perhaps WWF’s greatest strength is its people, the staff and officers who together strive for a living planet, and wherever possible we should recognise this priceless asset. Similarly, the recognition of the leaders and champions who are playing key roles outside WWF to achieve conservation success and sustainable development is a powerful opportunity to promote conservation. By highlighting these champions for the environment, WWF recognises their contribution, empowering, encouraging and building links, profiling conservation success and, above all, showing what can be achieved and inspiring others to take up the challenge to secure a living planet.

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Footprint

 / ©: WWF-Canon / Jürgen Freund
Fisherman with tuna catch, Philippines.
© WWF-Canon / Jürgen Freund
Reducing our impact on the planet
WWF’s second meta-goal is to reduce humankind’s Ecological Footprint so that we live within the renewable resource limits of our planet. This builds on strong foundations and targets humanity’s carbon, commodity and water footprints which have the greatest impact on biodiversity.

WWF’s work on transforming markets focuses on the production of key commodities including palm oil, soy, tuna, timber, whitefish, pulp and paper, farmed salmon and shrimp, that impact our priority species and places, and contribute substantially to humanity’s footprint.

By working with companies along commodity supply chains, showing that environmental impacts can be affordably and measurably reduced, and by creating consumer preference, entire commodity markets can be tipped and large-scale environmental outcomes delivered.

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Climate

 / ©: WWF / Sean Kelland
Earth Hour Lanterns, Cape Town, South Africa
© WWF / Sean Kelland
The outcomes of the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in December were indeed, overall, greatly disappointing but there were positive signs.

Three elements are significant: Firstly there is a set of negotiation texts which are more or less in advanced stages of development – they touch on adaptation, technology, and REDD. Second, we have a mandate to pursue negotiations in two tracks, even if the ending point for those two tracks is not defined (which creates enormous difficulties as we saw in Copenhagen). Third, we have the “Copenhagen Accord”, an agreement between 29 countries, which the COP officially noted.

WWF’s immediate priorities must focus on keeping momentum and regenerating dynamics, use the Copenhagen Accord as a stepping stone for (re) building trust, and getting funds to flow, so that we are better positioned for the next COP in Mexico in late 2010.

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