http://www.worldwildlife.org/ The latest amazon headlines from WWF Fri, 06 JUN 2008 17:00:00 EDT en-us http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem18416.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem18416.html Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EST Between 1999 and 2009, more than 1,200 new species of plants and vertebrates were discovered in the Amazon biome – a rate of one new species every three days – confirming the Amazon as one of the most diverse places on Earth, says a WWF report. High-resolution photographs of many of these new and unusual species, as well as video footage, is available for download. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem12330.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem12330.html Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 EST New figures released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today show that only 1 percent of the sustainable palm oil available on the market has been bought, raising concerns that one of the major solutions to halting deforestation of tropical forests is not catching on fast enough.  Rapid increases in the production of palm oil, which is found in everything from cosmetics to ice cream to chocolate bars, has caused extensive land clearing in places like Borneo and Sumatra, resulting in loss of habitat for endangered species like tigers and orangutans and contributing to climate change. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem10876.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem10876.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, a study in the journal Conservation Biology finds. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem9171.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem9171.html Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Bonn, Germany, May 30, 2008 – Brazil's Environment Minister, Carlos Minc, has confirmed the imminent creation of four new protected areas, three of them in the Brazilian Amazon, totaling 2.3 million hectares. The announcement of the creation of these areas will be made on June 5th, World Environment Day. Minc announced this commitment yesterday at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany, where, together with Environmental Ministers of 60 countries, he also signed onto a WWF campaign of zero net deforestation by 2020. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem8977.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2008/WWFPresitem8977.html Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EST The announcement by Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the creation of approximately 7,828,938.5 acres of new federal protected areas in the Amazon: the Jarí National Park, Iquiri National Forest, Middle Purus Extractive Reserve, and the expansion of the Balata-Tufari National Forest is a positive step but only one of many which will be needed to save the Amazon, according to WWF. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2007/WWFPresitem1882.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2007/WWFPresitem1882.html Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST Bali, Indonesia – A vicious feedback loop of climate change and deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 percent of the Amazon forest by 2030, says a new report from WWF.  http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem881.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem881.html Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Washington - At the Clinton Global Initiative in New York today, World Wildlife Fund affirmed its commitment to a program which conserves key portions of the Amazon, preventing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere. The Amazon Region Protected Areas Program - known as ARPA - is the largest tropical forest conservation effort in history. It aims to safeguard the extraordinary biological diversity of the Amazon, reduce its extremely high rates of deforestation, and conserve its environmental and ecological services that provide benefits to millions of people. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem876.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem876.html Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Brazilia, Brazil - Deforestation rates in the Amazon are declining, but ranching, logging and agriculture activities are still responsible for continued degradation of the world's largest rainforest, according to data released by the Brazilian government. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem860.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem860.html Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST On June 6, 2006 the Brazilian government announced the creation of new protected areas in the Amazon region totaling approximately 6.2 million acres. The Amazon is the world's largest river basin and the source of one-fifth of the earth's fresh water. It has the world's highest diversity of birds and freshwater fish, as well as the planet's largest rainforest which is home to more than one third of all species. However, the ecosystem is severely threatened by illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture and other human activities, and forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem857.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2006/WWFPresitem857.html Tue, 30 May 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON D.C. philanthropists Roger and Vicki Sant have named World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as beneficiary of a $20 million charitable remainder trust, the largest single gift the organization has ever received from an individual supporter. This gift was announced Tuesday, May 23 at a World Wildlife Fund dinner at the Residence of the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem827.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem827.html Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Fifteen students representing grades three through six at Spring Hill Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, on Dec. 13 joined Amazon experts from World Wildlife Fund, the World Bank, and the Brazilian government to discuss the theme of conservation and the Amazon. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem811.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem811.html Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST The Papua New Guinea government today announced it will gazette twelve protected areas requested by local communities covering some of the most biologically diverse forests, wetlands and reefs on the planet at an event held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem796.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem796.html Fri, 20 May 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - World Wildlife Fund today contributed U.S. $3.3 million dollars to secure long-term financial sustainability for the vast system of parks and sustainable use areas now being established in the Amazon by Brazil. Today's contribution by WWF will be matched by the Global Environment Facility, resulting in a total contribution of $6.6 million dollars. World Wildlife Fund also announced its intent to raise an additional $6.7 million dollars by June 2007 to further protect these vital areas in perpetuity. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem787.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem787.html Thu, 31 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST Washington, DC - The Peruvian Government today celebrates the creation of one of the largest combined indigenous reserves and protected areas in the world. Also, the government announces that a new commission will design a law to protect indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in Peruvian Amazon territorial reserves. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem782.html http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2005/WWFPresitem782.html Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST BRASILIA-One of the world's most ambitious conservation efforts has taken a major step forward with the declaration of two new major protected areas, comprising 9.4 million acres of rain forest, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.