Commonwealth NGOs
related to forestry

bullet1 GLOBAL

bullet2 WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature

HQ situated in Switzerland

Website:  www.panda.org 

Type of NGO:  NGO,

Interest in Forestry: peripheral

Contact method: online email :

Description:

What is WWF?

* WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations.

* It is an independent foundation registered under Swiss law

* WWF is a global organization acting locally through a network of over 90 offices in over 40 countries around the world which vary in their degree of autonomy.

* The central secretariat for the network (called WWF International) is located in Gland, Switzerland. (WWF offices | organizational structure)

* WWF's first office was founded on 11 September 1961 in the small Swiss town of Morges.

What do the initials WWF stand for?

* WWF originally stood for "World Wildlife Fund".

* However, in 1986, WWF had come to realize that its name no longer reflected the scope of its activities, and changed its name to "World Wide Fund For Nature".

* The United States and Canada, however, retained the old name.

* The resulting confusion caused by the name change in 1986, together with its translation into more than 15 languages, led the WWF Network in 2001 to agree on using the original acronym as its one, global name - the acronym that it had always been known by since its inception way back in 1961: WWF

* Find out more on the panda symbol and how it has chnaged over the years...

What is WWF's mission?

WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build 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.

What issues does WWF work on?

WWF focuses its work around the magnificent diversity of life on this planet, the extraordinary places they live in, and while trying to reduce humanity’s impact on this life and these places.

How many projects does WWF have?

* Since 1985, WWF has invested over US$1,300 million in more than 11,000 projects in more than 100 countries.

* WWF runs about 1,300 projects at any one time.