Perhaps WWF’s greatest strength is its people, the staff and officers who together strive for a living planet, together with the many external leaders and conservation heroes WWF partners with to achieve conservation success and sustainable development. By highlighting these champions for the environment, WWF recognises their contribution, while profiling conservation success and, above all, showing what can be achieved and inspiring others to take up the challenge to secure a living planet.

• Kerstin Forsberg, a 28-year-old marine conservation biologist and campaigner has been awarded the WWF International President’s Award 2013 at the WWF Annual Conference in Wyoming, US.

• Two outstanding conservationists received Leaders for a Living Planet awards in June, recognising Dr Thomas Lovejoy

• Champions for sustainable fishing in the Mediterranean were recognised with Conservation Merit awards at the WWF Annual Conference.

• WWF staged its third TEDxWWF conference in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May, bringing together 11 inspiring speakers to share ideas and solutions under the theme ‘One Planet Living’.

• In Brazil at the World Youth Day in July, during the first international trip of his papacy, Pope Francis called on Brazil’s bishops to defend the Amazon and its peoples, and challenged young people worldwide to protect the planet’s environment from harm.