World Wide Fund for Nature
WWF â€"
World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly the "World Wildlife Fund", which is still used by
WWF-US and
WWF-Canada) is a global environment conservation, research, environmental advocacy and restoration organization. WWF is dedicated to stopping the degradation of the planet's natural environment, and building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:
* conserving the world's
biological diversity * ensuring that the use of renewable
natural resources is sustainable
* promoting the reduction of
pollution and wasteful consumption.
Currently WWF works on the conservation of three
biomes:
Forests,
Freshwater Ecosystems, and
Oceans and
Coasts. These conservation works contain the bulk of the world's
biodiversity, and provide the environmental goods and services upon which all life ultimately depends.
WWF promotes a factual, science-based approach to conservation, which focuses on six priority issues of global concern: forests, oceans and coasts, fresh water,
endangered species, and the insidious threats of toxic chemicals and
climate change. For each of these issues, WWF has developed measurable targets, and runs more than 1,200 field projects around the world in any given year.
* 11 September 1961, Morges, Switzerland, under the name
World Wildlife Fund for Animals.
* In 1986, WWF realized that its old name no longer reflected the scope of its activities. The name was changed into
World Wide Fund for Nature, retaining the WWF initials. The United States and Canada, however, retained the full old name, World Wildlife Fund for Animals.
[WWF Finland - History of WWF International (English)]* 1962–1976:
HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands* 1976–1981:
John H Loudon* 1981–1996:
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh* 1996–1999:
Syed Babar Ali* 2000–2000:
Ruud Lubbers* 2000–2001:
The Hon. Mrs Sara Morrison* 2001–present:
HE Chief Emeka AnyaokuWWF Services
* James P Leape â€" Director General
* Paul Steele â€" Chief Operating Officer
* Thomas Schultz-Jagow â€" Communications
* Dr Timothy Geer â€" Government & Aid Agency Coordination
* Chiew Chong â€" Finance & Administration
;International Conservation Programme
* Dr Chris Hails â€" Programme Director
* Dr Sheila O'Connor â€" Programme Audits
;Regional Programmes
* Dr Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu â€" Africa/Madagascar
* Dr Isabelle Louis â€" Asia/Pacific
* Dr Magnus Sylvén â€" Europe/Middle East
* Dr Georg Schwede â€" Eastern Europe/Central Asia
* Dr Meg Symington â€" Latin America/Caribbean
;Policy
* Gordon Shepherd â€" International Policy
;Global Issues
* Jennifer Morgan â€" Climate Change Programme
* Duncan Pollard â€" Forests for Life Programme
* Jamie Pittock â€" Freshwater Programme
* Dr Simon Cripps â€" Oceans & Coasts Programme
* Dr Sue Lieberman â€" Species Programme
;Legal Advisor
* Michael R. Rogers, BarristerIn
2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued
Vince McMahon and
World Wrestling Federation (now known as ). During the suit, the wrestling promotion was also known as WWF. The environmental organization claimed that McMahon had violated a 1994 agreement not to use the WWF initials outside
North America.
A British court ruled in favor of the World Wildlife Fund. On
May 5 2002, the wrestling company quietly changed its website url from wwf.com to wwe.com. An automatic editing override was used to replace every "WWF" reference on the existing site with "WWE."
However, this move did not conclude the two organizations' legal wrangling. Later in 2002, the Wildlife Fund petitioned for $360 million in damages, and the wrestling group made a counteroffer after that, leading to an undisclosed settlement. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment won a limited decision permitting them to continue marketing certain preexisting products with the abandoned WWF logo. In general, though, the wrestling company was obliged to issue new licensed merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the new "WWE" acronym. WWE has reportedly considered taking steps to reacquire the WWF trademark, but has not yet officially done so.
*
Global 200 (200 ecoregions defined by WWF as the most critical regions for conservation)
*
Ecoregion*
No One's Gonna Change Our World - charity album in aid of WWF.
*
WWF Global**
WWF's global website
