World Wildlife Fund

Fact Sheets

Read more about the history and mission of WWF's partnership with the American Red Cross: WWF and American Red Cross Partnership Fact Sheet (PDF, 70.7KB)

Sri Lanka was one of the four countries most affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.  Through a partnership with the American Red Cross, WWF has also paired up with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in Sri Lanka to work on sustainable reconstruction in tsunami-affected areas.  The Sri Lanka program has made a lot of progress in, among others, the areas of water and sanitation, solid waste management and "green training" of partner staff and local communities.  Read on about the partnership's work in green training (TRAINING IN RECOVERY ), water and sanitation, (INNOVATION FLOWS ), and the partnership as a whole (RECIPE FOR RECOVERY ).  

“Disasters and the environment are strongly interrelated: natural and man-made hazards can create environmental impacts, and environmental degradation can heighten disaster impacts. Hazards like deforestation, poor agricultural methods and inappropriate development can exacerbate the amount of environmental destruction caused by hurricanes, earthquakes and storms. This heightened environmental destruction can in turn lead to further hazards such as landslides, flooding, silting and contamination of drinking water. Read Humanitarian Partnership - Disaster Management fact sheet (PDF, 338KB) to learn more about effective disaster management from an environmental perspective.”

Papers

Director of the Humanitarian Partnerships Program, Anita van Breda, co-wrote Reducing Risk and Vulnerability-An Environmental and Humanitarian Reconstruction Partnership, which examines the reasons for and challenges of a conservation-humanitarian partnership, with the program director of the American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program, Robert Laprade. In April of 2008, Anita and Bob presented the paper in Christchurch, New Zealand at a conference hosted by i-REC, a consortium of humanitarian, academic and environment professionals committed to building resilience for achieving effective post-disaster reconstruction. 

After disasters happen, the re-establishment of water and sanitation infrastructure is a critical activity. In order to ensure that newly installed water supply and wastewater systems are long-lasting and environmentally beneficial, humanitarian aid agencies can adopt steps to integrate environmentally sound development into their planning. In a publication prepared for the International Water Association Conference in Australia in November 2007, WWF Senior Program Officer Jonathan Randall, WWF consultant Achala Navaratne, American Red Cross Senior Technical Advisor Yohannes Hagos, and American Red Cross Water Engineer Emily Rand investigated the various strategies for greening the humanitarian aid water and sanitation sector. Environmental Stewardship and the Humanitarian Aid Water and Sanitation Sector: Lessons from the 2004 Tsunami Disaster Response (PDF)

In 2007, WWF International asked the Humanitarian Partnerships team to contribute to the latest book in their Arguments for Protection series, which examines the role protected areas play in hazard mitigation. Humanitarian Partnerships Senior Program Officer, Jon Randall, offered so much relevant information from his vast experience in the field that he became a co-author of the publication. Jon launched Arguments for Protection: Natural Security, Hazard Mitigation and Protected Areas, which was co-written with Nigel Dudley and Sue Stolton, at the Conference of Parties Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany in May 2008. Get a PDF of the complete book.  

Guidelines

WWF's Green Reconstruction Policy Guidelines (PDF, 70.7KB) were initially written in Indonesia to aid reconstruction in Banda Aceh.  Their use has now expanded to other post-disaster reconstruction projects.  The Humanitarian Partnerships team is able to adapt the guidelines to the needs of each post-disaster reconstruction scenario.