Hyderabad, India - WWF welcomes India's US$50 million dollar biodiversity investment pledge made today in Hyderabad and encourages other nations to step up and make similar commitments to support the health of our planet.

"This 50 million dollar pledge for biodiversity is a welcome show of leadership from one of the world's fastest growing - and biologically rich - counties," said Lasse Gustavsson, WWF International Executive Director of Conservation.

"It's now up to other countries to make similar commitments and show the world how serious they are about protecting our planet's natural wealth," he added.    

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the announcement today as the high-level negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) got underway. Called the "Hyderabad Pledge", the US$50 million in funding will be invested both domestically and shared with other developing nations that are now struggling to cover urgently needed investments in biodiverstiy. 

"Two years ago in Japan, the world came together and agreed on a way forward to protect our planet. Now here in Hyderabad, we are starting to see signs of new leadership emerging - is this the beginning of a new South - South Cooperation leadership?” he added.

“It is wonderful to see the south step forward. But we still need to see developed countries increase their financial support for protecting biodiversity in developing countries.”

For more information contact:

Chris Chaplin, WWF International, cchaplin@wwf.sg, Hyderabad: +91 96522 36722 or Singapore: +65-9826-3802

Aarti Khosla, WWF-India, akhosla@wwfindia.net, +91 98 1119 9288