Posted on August, 28 2001

Since its foundation in 1961, WWF has worked to preserve our planet's biological diversity and to help build a world in which people can live in harmony with nature. To continue the series we started on the 13th of August, below are three additional examples of WWF's achievements over the past decades.

Javan Rhino

In 1964, there were no more than 20 to 25 Javan rhinos left on the western Java peninsula of Ujung Kulon.

WWF started a carefully planned programme of protection and scientific management of Ujung Kulon National Park in collaboration with the Directorate of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA).

Today there are about 60 animals in the reserve that are protected with WWF's help.

In 1990, the presence of Javan rhinos in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam was confirmed by Vietnamese scientists and the American biologist George Schaller. WWF carried out additional surveys in the following years.

Coto Doñana

In 1969, with the personal involvement of Dr Luc Hoffmann, one of its founders and currently Vice President Emeritus of the organization, WWF helped establish Coto Doñana, a 50-km stretch of wetland in Spain, as a protected area.

An important stop-over for wintering birds, and one of the last strongholds of the highly endangered Iberian lynx, the area was under threat from commercial development when WWF stepped in and helped purchase the land, which became the Coto Doñana nature reserve.

In April 1998, Doñana suffered an ecological disaster, which saw land the size of 4,600 football pitches covered in poisonous black sludge from a mine reservoir spill.

This heralded a new determination to strengthen restoration efforts already underway before the accident. Today a WWF project helps to bring together local and regional authorities, business interests and many local initiatives to create a future for the region of which the protected area is the heart.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

In the early seventies, WWF contributed to the establishment of CITES , whose mandate is to ensure through international cooperation that the international trade in wild species does not threaten their long-term survival.

Today, working with TRAFFIC , its wildlife trade monitoring programme, WWF boosts the effectiveness of CITES.

TRAFFIC- Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce

In 1976, TRAFFIC was established as a joint programme of WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union to monitor trade in wild animals, plants, wildlife products, and derivatives.

In the past 25 years the TRAFFIC network has grown from a single UK-based office to a network of 22 offices around the world. TRAFFIC was founded largely to assist in the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which today covers some 30,000 plant and animal species and has more than 150 member countries.

TRAFFIC has played an important role in improving the implementation of CITES and in reducing the illegal trade in wildlife products such as rhino horn, ivory, shahtoosh, tiger parts, and tropical birds and fish.