Published by the World Wildlife Fund Just one week after scientists warned of unprecedented change brought on by warming in the Arctic, President Obama announced permanent protection for 115 million acres of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Including previous presidential withdrawals, today’s action protects nearly 125 million acres in the offshore Arctic from […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund It’s mid-afternoon in the small, but mighty Himalayan country of Nepal, and actor Nicholas Hoult gets a wet kiss from an orphaned, baby rhino. Nepal’s National Trust for Nature Conservation found the stray, who is now in their care. Hoult recently traveled to Chitwan National Park in Nepal to learn […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund The Arctic is seeing unprecedented declines in sea ice and snow cover triggered by abnormally warm temperatures, according to a new report released by the US government. The change has been so dramatic that a record-breaking delay in the fall freeze up of sea ice is threatening some wildlife populations, […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund As the planet warms, we’re seeing a startling loss of Arctic sea ice. In fact, unusually high air temperatures and a warm ocean have led to a record low Arctic sea ice extent for November, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This is a major concern when […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund China is a country of incredible size and beauty and home to many of the iconic species WWF works to protect, such as giant pandas and snow leopards. As the first conservation organization invited by the government to work in China, WWF has worked for more than 50 years to […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Mangroves protect and stabilize coastlines – particularly important as climate change brings more extreme storms and increased wave action. They also act as sinks, sequestering 3–5 percent more carbon per unit area than any other forest system. But mangroves are disappearing, cleared for urban and tourism development or felled for […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund In the waning days of 2016, it’s important to pause for a moment to celebrate all we’ve accomplished for wildlife, people, and the planet in the past 12 months. Together, we pushed for new regulations to help shut down the illegal elephant ivory trade within our borders and to stop […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund One of the last great stands of rain forest in the deforestation hotspot of the Indonesian island of Sumatra has welcomed an exciting new addition: a baby female orangutan. The infant is the first orangutan born in the Thirty Hills conservation concession since WWF and its partners began managing the […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Earlier this year, WWF estimated an increase in the number of tigers worldwide, up to 3,890 in 2016 from an estimated 3,200 in 2010. But success to date is tenuous: According to a new report from WWF, tigers now face a threat far greater than many we’ve tackled before: linear […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund The following piece was written by summer WWF intern Kate Rasmussen to offer readers a glimpse into the life of a next-generation rancher from the Northern Great Plains, one of the largest remaining intact grasslands in the world. These grasslands are dependent on grazing animals, and these days, cattle are […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Three ghostly figures march at a steady pace from left to right across a grainy screen—a small caravan of poachers on the hunt for wildlife in the Maasai Mara reserve in Africa. The footage shows them moving confidently under the cover of night; the protected area encompasses more than 500 […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund America’s Arctic will be free of new offshore oil and gas drilling, at least for the next five years, and that’s good news for people and wildlife. Temperatures in the Arctic are warming faster than any other place on Earth, and melting sea ice is opening up access to the […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund In November 2010, 13 tiger range countries came together and made an unprecedented pledge: to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. Mobilized by a century of dramatic decline, leaders convened in St. Petersburg, Russia to sign a declaration boosting tiger conservation efforts. This initial effort has led to […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Most Americans are familiar with the old folk song, Home on the Range, which paints a picturesque vision of sweeping grasslands where the buffalo roam, and deer and the antelope play beneath clear blue skies. Things have certainly changed a lot in the western United States since the early 1870s […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund An ideal day for Alex Waisimon begins just before sunrise. Still sleepy, he walks out the front door of his home in the Indonesian province of Papua and up the steps of the elevated hut he built behind his house a few years earlier. He comes alive when he climbs […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Eleven months ago, nearly two hundred nations signed on to the first truly global agreement to curb climate change. And now that deal is officially entering into force. Known as the Paris Agreement, this unprecedented and essential plan aims to keep global warming to well below 2°C, or even 1.5°C. […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Cracking down on poaching in many parts of Africa helps more than just elephants and their environment—it’s also a smart economic move. Tourism brings in billions of dollars across the continent every year. But when poaching ramps up, tourists are less likely to visit protected areas and the revenue stream […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Who doesn’t love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. The bears spend most of their lives on sea ice, where they […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Producing food is critical to the future of humankind, yet it’s also one of the most significant threats to wildlife and the oceans, forests, and other habitats they call home. The good news is that a growing proportion of food is certified sustainable by independent organizations that WWF supports. By […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. They scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia with ease, blending into the landscape. But these majestic, endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss from climate change, reduced prey, poaching, and retaliatory […]