landscape

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Conserve threatened wildlife and wild places to sustain life on Earth










OVERVIEW

Saving nature is at the very heart of what we do as WWF. For 60 years, we have made it our mission to find solutions that save the marvelous array of life on our planet by applying the best science available and working closely with local communities. But our work is far from done. Humans are behind the current rate of species extinction, which is at least 100–1,000 times higher than nature intended. We’ve seen an astonishing 60% decline in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians in just over 40 years, according to WWF's Living Planet Report 2018. And the impacts will reach far beyond the potential cultural loss of iconic species like tigers, rhinos and whales. The good news is we’ve also seen what’s working. WWF has been part of successful wildlife recovery stories ranging from southern Africa’s black rhino to black bucks in the Himalayas. And this, in turn, is helping to protect rich and varied ecosystems while ensuring people continue to benefit from nature. This much is clear: we cannot afford to fail in our mission to save a living planet.













WHY IT MATTERS

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IMPROVING HUMAN LIVES

By protecting species, we also protect the essential goods and services that make our lives possible and contribute enormously to human health and well-being — breathable air, clean water, food, fibers, building materials, medicines, energy, fertile soils, climate regulation, transport, and recreational and spiritual values.

WHAT ARE WE DOING

Conserving wildlife is at heart of our mission. We focus on protecting populations of some of the world’s most ecologically, economically, and culturally important species—the survival of which are threatened by poaching, illegal trade and habitat loss.
We use the best science available to link on-the-ground work with high-level policy action to create lasting solutions that benefit wild animals as well as the people that live alongside them.

DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF TIGERS

WWF aims to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022 (TX2). We’re working with world leaders to take action, focusing conservation efforts in key sites, raising funds to permanently protect landscapes, and supporting community-based conservation. Saving tigers is about more than restoring a single species. As a large predator, tigers play an important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Every time we protect a tiger, we protect around 25,000 acres of forest—forests that sustain wildlife and local communities and supply people around the world with clean air, water, food, and products.

EMPOWER PEOPLE TO PROTECT WILDLIFE

Over the last few decades, conservationists have come to understand just how central community involvement is to wildlife conservation success—and how important it is for communities to actively steward the natural resources around them to improve economic and social well-being. WWF’s community-based conservation work today reflects this fundamental reality. We work across a variety of communities and customize our work based on the specific needs and interests of a given place, taking into consideration each region’s particular set of conservation assets and challenges.

CLOSING ASIA'S IVORY MARKETS

Illegal killing of elephants for ivory decimates global populations. Estimates indicate that each year poachers slaughter close to 20,000 elephants, mostly for their tusks. Fueling this rampant poaching is a steady consumer demand for ivory. Overall, we see demand increasing in East Asian and Southeast Asian markets, with the greatest demand in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand. WWF is working to shut down the illegal markets in Thailand, and helped end the legal ivory trade in China. By tackling these markets now as part of a pan-Asian approach, WWF aims to leverage China’s recent actions to ban the ivory trade to prevent further displacement of the current China ivory trade to nearby countries.

STOP WILDLIFE CRIME

WWF uses our expertise in policy, wildlife trade, advocacy, and communications in an effort to stop wildlife crime in the US and around the world. At home, we ensure the US enacts tight ivory commerce restrictions. Partnerships with technology companies help us develop innovative ways to combat wildlife crime using everything from drones to infrared cameras that can detect poachers in the dead of night. To combat the trade in illegal wildlife products through web-based platforms, WWF has teamed up with e-commerce and social media companies to adopt a standardized wildlife policy framework for online trade.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

FIND OUT ABOUT OUR PROJECTS