Where We Work
Saving 19 Priority Places
Featured Story
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Meet Baim
Read the story about a baby orangutan rescued on the island of Borneo. Read more
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Bristol Bay, An Economic Engine for Alaska
Bristol Bay, referred to as America’s Fish Basket, is an economic engine for Alaska. Read more
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Breaking Gender Barriers
Meet Sidonie, a female ranger who works to fight poaching in Africa. Read more
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Monks Rally for Mekong Dolphins
Buddhist monks are an effective voice for the protection of endangered species, like the Mekong dolphin. Read more
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Fighting Poaching in the Congo
Because of international cooperation, an armed antipoaching brigade from three nations patrols forests to protect wildlife. Read more
Latest News
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Sumatran Elephants Listed as Critically Endangered
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species changed the Sumatran elephant's status. Read more
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A Glimmer of Hope
Greater one-horned rhinos start 2012 on a positive note. Read more
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Asia Pulp and Paper Greenwashing
A new report documents a tiger sanctuary under threat from deforestation. Read more
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APP’s Greenwashing Campaign Hides Forest Destruction
One of Asia Pulp & Paper’s (APP) suppliers is clear cutting its widely advertised tiger sanctuary in Sumatra, Indonesia, an investigation by a coalition of environmental groups finds. Read more
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Setting a Global Example
WWF helps nations of the Eastern Himalayas lay foundation for regional response to climate change. Read more
The diversity of life isn't evenly distributed around the globe. It is concentrated in certain areas, which makes specific places a priority for conservation.
WWF works to protect 19 places based on the wealth and variety of life they support, the destructive challenges they face, and our ability to positively impact them.
These spectacular places include the world's largest and most intact tropical rain forests, diverse freshwater systems, varied coral reefs, and productive fishing grounds. All of these places are also home to many endangered species.
Discover the places we work and what we’re doing to protect them:
AFRICA
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin is the world's second-largest rain forest and home to more than half of the world's 700 remaining mountain gorillas. These ancient forests extend over 500 million acres – an area equivalent to over one fourth of the continental U.S. – and span the boundaries of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Read more
Namibia
Located on the southern west coast of Africa, Namibia's landmass – about twice the size of California – includes landscapes ranging from ocean shores to woodland savannas, from lush floodplains to picturesque deserts. Along the coast the plankton-rich waters support an extraordinary array of marine biodiversity, including an increasing number of southern right whales. Further inland springbok, gemsbok and black-faced impala have all staged multifold increases, and local populations of endangered Hartmann's zebra and black rhinos are on the rise. Read more
Coastal East Africa
Few places on Earth can match the vibrancy and diversity of life found in Coastal East Africa. From the shores of Lake Malawi—home to nearly 1,000 endemic species of fish—and the Eastern Arc Mountains and Miombo woodlands—where humans live alongside the highest collection of endemic and threatened species in all of Africa— to the Indian Ocean and the East African marine ecoregion, Coastal East Africa stretches for 2,900 miles, from southern Somalia to the shores of South Africa. Read more
Madagascar
The world’s fourth-largest island, Madagascar is home to comical and beautiful lemurs, bizarre baobab trees, the world's most endangered tortoise and numerous cactus species. An astonishing 98 percent of Madagascar's land mammals exist nowhere else on Earth, and the island’s Dry Forest and Spiny Desert is one of the world’s most fascinating ecosystems. Read more
ASIA
Coral Triangle
The pristine waters of the Coral Triangle hold the richest concentration of iridescent corals, fish, crustaceans, mollusks and marine plants in the world. Labyrinths of limestone reefs, extensive sea grass meadows and coastal mangrove forests attract sea turtles and giants of the sea such as humpback whales to feed, breed and rest in the rich and sheltered waters. Read more
Borneo and Sumatra
From the hot, humid lowlands to the cool, misty uplands, the rain forests of Borneo and Sumatra teem with extraordinary life. The cries of gibbons can be heard through the early morning mist.Orangutans dwell in trees; elephants, tigers and rhinos roam freely over the dense forest floor; and hornbills soar through the skies. Read more
Eastern Himalayas
Only in the Eastern Himalayas region can one find rhinos, tigers and elephants coexisting with millions of people in the Terai grasslands; snow leopards, red pandas and the unique takin living in a Bhuddist Kingdom – Bhutan – that is still 70 percent forest; and Himalayan black bears, spectacular alpine meadows and golden langur monkeys thriving in the temperate mountain forests. Read more
Mekong
Descending from mountain glaciers in Tibet, the Mekong flows 2,796 miles—through deep gorges in China, tropical and dry forests in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, and the rich delta of Vietnam—to rest in the South China Sea. Along its course is living evidence of the region’s history—from the nomadic cultures of Tibet, to the ancient Kingdom of Siam, to one of the world’s wonders, Angkor Wat. Read more
Yangtze
The magnificent forests of the Yangtze region are home to a stunning array of wildlife, including rare and endangered species such as the well-known giant panda, the elusive snow leopard, and beautiful pheasants in all the colors of the rainbow. Many of the flowers we plant in our gardens, such as azaleas and rhododendron, originated in this part of China. The Minshan Mountains also play a vital role in watershed protection for the Yangtze River, regulating the flow of fresh water for 400 million people downstream. Read more
Amur-Heilong
The Amur-Heilong’s vast temperate forests are one of the last places harboring the world’s largest cat, the Amur tiger, and the world’s rarest cat, the Amur leopard. Its river is one of the world’s longest free-flowing rivers and winds through a remarkable fabric of forest, steppe grassland and taiga landscapes. Read more
NORTH AMERICA
Northern Great Plains
The size of California and Nevada combined, the Northern Great Plains region spans five states and two Canadian provinces. Its rivers and streams include some of the longest reaches of free-flowing rivers in North America, and its vast grasslands are home to iconic wildlife such as the American bison and the black-footed ferret – one of the most endangered mammals in North America. Read more
Arctic
A vast area of fjords and tundra, jagged peaks and frozen seas, glaciers and icebergs, and ice and snow, the Arctic is the largest and least fragmented of the inhabited regions on Earth. This immense landscape covers eight countries – the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden – and is one of the most important places on the planet. Read more
U.S. Southeast Rivers and Streams
The rivers and streams of the American Southeast are unusually rich in aquatic biodiversity. They are home to such colorfully named fish as the Pygmy Madtom – the world's smallest catfish – the Halloween Darter, and mussels like the Tennessee Heelsplitter and the Purple Wartyback. From the huge paddlefish and sturgeon to tiny daces and shiners, these rivers and streams are of global significance and home to freshwater mussels, fish and snails found nowhere else in the world. Read more
Gulf of California
Between Mexico’s mainland and the Baja California Peninsula lies the Gulf of California, a mystical frontier of splendid coastlines and turquoise waters. The Gulf’s rocky shores and hundreds of miles of gently-sloping beaches are home to coves, bays, lagoons and estuaries that sustain an extraordinary richness of marine life. Its waters are primary breeding, feeding and nursing grounds for a myriad of migratory and resident marine species, and its countless islands are important nesting sites for millions of seabirds. Read more
Chihuahuan Desert
In the Chihuahuan Desert, roadrunners scurry after collard lizards, while golden eagles search the desert brush from high above for black-tailed jackrabbits. Forests of yucca and agave display unearthly beauty. Here, nearly one-fifth of the world’s cactus species thrive. Hundreds of bird species – including the vermilion flycatcher, black-chinned hummingbird and aplomado falcon- find food and shelter while helping to maintain the region’s delicate and imperiled natural balance. Read more
CENTRAL AMERICA
Mesoamerican Reef
The jewel of the Caribbean Sea, the Mesoamerican Reef is a rich tapestry of fringing reefs, atolls, patch reefs, sea grass pastures and mangrove forests. An ancient natural system dating back 225 million years, it acts as a natural barrier against severe storms for Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, and its presence is vital to the survival of many plants and animals as well as humans. Read more
SOUTH AMERICA
Amazon
The Amazon is a mosaic of landscapes and ecosystems—from lowland tropical forests to flooded savannas dotted with palm trees and bamboo forests. It is the world’s largest river basin and the source of one-fifth of all fresh water on Earth. The Amazon contains one-third of the planet’s remaining rain forests, sustaining millions of species. Today, more than 30 million people live in the region. Read more
Galapagos
Far off the coast of Ecuador, bathed in the swirling currents of the Pacific, lie the Galápagos, the iconic islands that inspired one of the most important insights into life on Earth : Darwin’s theory of evolution. The islands emerge as jet-black cliffs rising from a sparkling sea of blue and remain a priceless living laboratory for scientists today. Read more
Southern Chile
Covering nearly 85 million acres, Southern Chile is an area of great natural beauty with snowcapped volcanoes and Andean peaks as a backdrop. The region contains South America's only temperate rain forest, second in size in the world only to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Off the coast in the Gulf of Corcovado blue whales – the world's largest mammal – can be found feeding and nursing between the months of December and April. Read more
