June 2015 Conservation Highlights PowerPoint

Recent achievements and challenges in WWF’s work to protect biodiversity and reduce humanity’s footprint in priority areas of the global conservation programme

Conservation HighlightsJune 2015

WWF’s Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007 as a citizen action to protest against climate change and a call for urgent action. Earth Hour is now the world’s largest mass participation environmental initiative, active in over 7,000 cities and 160 countries, and is now a platform to mobilise action on climate and other environmental priorities.

CAMPAIGNS – EARTH HOUR

Conservation Highlights, June 2015

In the build up to the year end climate summit in Paris to agree a global climate deal that avoids the worst consequences of climate change, Earth Hour 2015 took up the climate challenge supported by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and many leaders and celebrities. Over 70 countries took climate change actions.

Earth Hour takes climate challenge

© Jiri Rezak / WWF-UK


Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player and WWF global ambassador, is an Earth Hour supporter. WWF’s Earth Hour is a simple but powerful idea,” he said, “a global moment to show we care about our brilliant planet and want to protect the amazing people and wildlife that depend on it.”

Andy Murray backs WWF’s Earth Hour

© AP


WWF’s Global Ocean Campaign calls for the protection of vital marine habitats for food security, livelihoods and sustainable development. The flagship campaign action is to save the Great Barrier Reef from the threat to dump seabed waste from port dredging within the GBR World Heritage Site.

“The Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s richest ocean habitats, home to endangered species, a valuable economic asset for Australia, and a natural treasure for the whole world” said WWF-International Director General Marco Lambertini.

CAMPAIGNS – OCEANS


Dredging for port expansion within Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) could cause severe damage according to a new WWF report, smothering corals and threatening marine life. WWF calls for a ban on all dumping of dredged material within the entire GBR World Heritage Site.

Save the iconic Great Barrier Reef

© Xanthe Rivett/CAFNEC/WWF-Australia


An Australian Government report to UNESCO in January portrays the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as being in good condition and fails to acknowledge the serious decline of the GBR’s health -- despite scientific evidence of decreases in marine species and a 50% decline in coral cover.


Australia denies Great Barrier Reef’s dire decline

© National Geographic Stock /Steve Winter / WWF

© Jürgen Freund / WWF

WWF launched a campaign in 2011-12 to address a massive escalation in illegal killing and trade of threatened species such as elephants, rhino and tiger. The campaign showed governments that wildlife crime is serious and must be addressed effectively and urgently for the sake of wildlife, their habitats, sustainable economic development and national security.

CAMPAIGNS – ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE


Asian governments have committed to stamp out poaching at a landmark meeting in Nepal on how to protect their wildlife. Inspired by Nepal’s success in achieving zero poaching, 13 countries agreed key actions including improved cooperation plus adoption of a zero poaching toolkit.

Asian countries commit to stop wildlife poaching

© WWF / James Morgan


Over a million people have joined an anti-ivory campaign in Thailand - Chor Chang Can Save Elephants. People are protesting the killing of elephants for ivory by symbolically removing the letter ‘Chor Chang’ – a common letter in the Thai lalphabet similar to ‘e for elephant’ – from their names.

© Frederick J. Weyerhaeuser / WWF

Campaign to reduce Thai ivory trade goes viral


REGIONAL CAMPAIGNSWWF supports and organizes different campaigns aimed to stop degradation of natural habitats and raise awareness on hot environmental issues.


The BBC reported in March that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is seeking to alter the boundaries of Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site, to allow oil exploration. WWF urges the Committee to maintain full protection of global treasures such as Virunga.

Oil exploration in Virunga remains a threat


© Brent Stirton / Reportage by Getty Images / WWF

More than 250,000 people signed a petition calling for a halt to Laos’ Don Sahong dam on the Mekong River. By blocking fish migration, the dam threatens the world’s largest inland fishery on which 60 mill people depend. WWF calls for independent studies of impacts and sustainable alternatives.

Opposition increases to controversial Mekong dam


© WWF-Cambodia

The Mexican government is taking action to protect the 100 remaining vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, threatened by being trapped in gillnets used for catching shrimp. The gillnets will be phased out and US$36 million provided annually to compensate fishers for lost income and boost conservation efforts.

Efforts underway to save world’s smallest porpoise

© Thomas A. Jefferson


WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” campaign in 2010 was central to mobilizing global efforts to save the tiger. With many partners, WWF helped shape both the global strategy to double tiger numbers and the national plans in the tiger range states. The first results are encouraging.

CAMPAIGNS - TIGERS


A new survey of India’s tiger population shows intensive conservation efforts are working: Tigers have increased from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,226 in 2014. Key to success are improved tiger reserves, undisturbed and connected core habitats, and protection of tigers and their prey from poaching.

Report finds India’s tigers are roaring back

© Martin Harvey / WWF


A video of a tiger family shows wild Amur tigers are returning to China. The images captured by a WWF camera trap in northern China, 30km from the Russian border, inspire efforts to establish a breeding tiger population in China - where WWF has helped reintroduce tiger prey and restore habitat.

Video gives hope for restoring tigers to China

© Vladimir Flonov / WWF


WWF has called for the cancellation of a planned road that would cut through 36km of Cambodia’s Mondulkiri Protected Forest. The forest is the proposed site for tiger reintroduction which would strengthen conservation efforts and support tourism with revenues to benefit local communities.

Road plans threaten Cambodian tiger reintroduction

© Nick Cox / WWF_Greater Mekong Programme


BIODIVERSITY

WWF’s biodiversity meta-goal is to ensure the integrity of the most outstanding natural places on Earth. This includes the protection of biodiversity in high conservation priority areas, and restoring populations of those species with the highest ecological, economic and cultural value.


The wild giant panda population has increased by 268 over the last decade to 1,864, and their range has expanded. WWF says this shows the value of establishing panda reserves to protect habitat, benefit other species, and secure the forests and watersheds that service the Yangtze River.

© Michel Gunther / WWF

New survey shows increase in wild panda numbers


The number of Amur leopards, perhaps the world’s rarest wild cat, has doubled since 2007. From just 30, new data shows at least 57 leopards in Russia - using 10,000 images from camera traps across 500,000 ha - and up to 12 leopards across the river in China.

© WWF-Russia / ISUNR

Signs of recovery for Amur leopard


After a 15 year battle, Spain's Supreme Court has ruled against plans to dredge a 90 km shipping channel in Doñana National Park, one of Europe’s most important wetlands. A World Heritage and Ramsar site, Doñana shelters over six million migratory birds.

© Jorge Sierta / WWF-Spain

Court victory saves historic Doñana National Park


South Africa continues to lose rhino to aggressive poaching by criminal gangs - 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014, 21% more than 2013. South Africa is home to 80% of the world’s rhino. WWF commended the efforts of the rangers risking their lives to protect vulnerable rhino.

© WWF-South Africa

South Africa battles rhino killers


WWF’s second meta-goal is to reduce humankind’s Ecological Footprint so that we live within the renewable resource limits of our planet. This builds on strong foundations and targets humanity’s carbon, commodity and water footprints which have the greatest impact on biodiversity.

FOOTPRINT


The European Commission has issued warnings to 17 states worldwide for not complying with strict new EU fisheries rules aimed at combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing -- a major cause of overfishing. Sanctions include bans on importing fish to the EU.

Europe issues warning on illegal fishing

© Francois Xavier Pelletier / WWF-Canon


© Paul Sunters / WWF

Spain has launched an investigation into pirate fishing – known as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing – which makes many fisheries unsustainable. WWF applauds this initiative, which links to European Union (EU) rules to stop IUU fishing, and keep illegally-caught fish out of the EU market.

Spain takes on pirate fishing


© WWF

Demand for sustainable seafood is increasing around the world, according to an independent report commissioned by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) which questioned 9,000 people in 15 countries worldwide. A third of people asked recognised the MSC Ecolabel.

Sustainable seafood increasingly on the menu


© WWF / Elma Okic

One of the biggest shrimp farms in Vietnam, the world’s third largest shrimp exporter, is the first in Asia to be certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), the leading global programme for responsibly farmed seafood. ASC sets sustainability standards, protecting wetlands and reducing pollution.

Asia’s first shrimp farm certified as sustainable

© Francois Xavier Pelletier / WWF-Canon


© WWF

Twenty-one species of shark and ray have received international protection. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) committed to protect the reef manta, nine varieties of devil ray, five types of sawfish, all three species of thresher shark, two types of hammerhead, and the silky shark.

Conservation gains for sharks and rays


© Matt Garvey and Chris Gardner

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which promotes sustainability across the oil palm industry, announced member companies failing to meet agreed targets will be expelled. While 20% of global palm oil is RSPO-certified, buyers are failing to buy all the certified palm oil, hampering further sustainability gains.

Efforts to increase uptake of sustainable palm oil


© naturepl.com / Juan Carlos Munos / WWF

The IKEA 2015 catalogue is the world’s largest print production to be printed on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). In 2014, 217 million copies of the IKEA catalogue were printed in 32 languages. The catalogue also informs customers that FSC stands for responsible wood products from well-managed forests.

IKEA’s 2015 catalogue printed with FSC paper


© IKEA

Community-based efforts supported by WWF are helping recover the 4,4 million ha Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area complex in the Central African Republic, two years after civil war. Swift actions of anti-poaching teams and neighbouring communities, alerting authorities to suspected poachers, are improving security in the area.

Local communities help restore an African nature jewel


© S. Demian / WWF

International development NGO CARE and WWF are helping communities around Mozambique’s Primeiras & Segundas protected area use conservation methods to improve crop yields and fish catches: Cassava harvests are four times larger and no-take fishing zones help increase fish numbers.

Conservation methods support sustainable food production


© WWF / Althea Skinner

The climate crisis tests WWF’s ability to leverage political commitment across the planet at huge scale. WWF aims for a legally-binding, science-based agreement that will equitably address issues such as finance and vulnerable countries, while achieving rapid emissions reductions that can limit global average temperatures rising above 1,5°C, beyond which catastrophic impacts are inevitable

CLIMATE CHANGE


WWF’s climate team leader Samantha Smith said the 2014 climate summit in Peru had failed to agree 2020 targets for emission cuts, lacked clarity on funding and overlooked vulnerable countries. Smith urged governments to use 2015 summits to define actions and financing.

© Sandra Otoya / WWF-Peru

Climate talks waste opportunities as planet heats


Contributions of US$10.2 billion were pledged to the Green Climate Fund for use by developing countries to reduce carbon emissions and cope with impacts. Created under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the fund aims to mobilize US$100 billion by 2020.

© Shutterstock / Pryzmat / WWF

US$10 billion pledged to fight climate change


India has announced major new commitments on renewable energy, including the world’s largest solar power plant, to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The country’s share of renewable energy is set to double from 6 to 15 per cent of its electricity mix by 2020.

© Kevin Schafer / WWF

India announces renewable energy commitments


China Vanke, the world’s largest housing developer, has committed to reduce CO2 emissions by joining WWF’s Climate Savers. Vanke will support transformation of Chinese cities to low-carbon development through green buildings, solar heating and shared technology.

© WWF-China

World’s largest home developer is WWF Climate Saver


Arctic sea ice is reported to have shrunk to the lowest winter extent ever recorded - a major climate change impact - and follows news that 2014 was the warmest year since record keeping began. WWF is helping identify and protect regions where sea ice is predicted to last longest, to support ice-dependent species such as polar bears.

© www.jsgrove.com / WWF

Arctic sea ice at record low


http://www.jsgrove.com/

By highlighting champions for the environment, WWF recognises their contribution and leadership, while profiling conservation success and, above all, showing what can be achieved by committed individuals who inspire others to take up the challenge to secure a living planet.

PEOPLE


Academy Award-winning actor, musician and director Jared Leto has agreed to become a WWF Global Ambassador and focus attention on urgent environmental issues facing our planet. “I’m honoured to join with WWF and do my part”, he said, participating in a rhino translocation exercise in South Africa.

© Jennifer Bornello / WWF-US

Jared Leto becomes WWF Global Ambassador


Tanzanian musician Richard (Rich) Mavoko is to champion WWF’s Solar for Education (S4E) campaign, an initiative to demonstrate how renewable energy solutions can improve peoples’ lives. Only 15 % of Tanzania’s 50 million people have access to electricity, while many use kerosene which is a health hazard.

Top African musician champions renewable energy


© Laura George / WWF-Tanzania

ON THE HORIZON

On the Horizon looks at a couple of the important events and developments coming up which WWF can use to progress our conservation aims.


United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for the environment to be central in new global development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will guide global development over the next 15 years, and prioritise investment in sustainability.

© UN Photo / Evan Schneider

Environment is key focus in new development goals


The UN Climate Summit in Paris at year end aims for a legally-binding agreement on climate to cut emissions which limit global temperature rise to less than 2°C and avoids the worst impacts of climate change. WWF calls for a fair agreement, with adequate financing to limit global temperature increase to less than 1,5°C.

© Rebecca Greenfield / WWF US

A crucial climate deal needed for the Earth’s future


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