Influencing Policy

Overview

Sound public policy is critical to the success of long-term conservation efforts across the globe. WWF works to secure transformative change at all levels of government in the U.S. and overseas. We partner with and advocate for the U.S. government, foreign governments and international institutions to protect wildlife and their habitats.

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A win on Capitol Hill

As WWF’s lead advocate on Capitol Hill, I spend much of my time with Members of Congress and their staff advocating for the organization’s top conservation priorities.

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What WWF Is Doing

Conservation at home and abroad

WWF advocates for strong U.S. federal policies and funding for international conservation, working closely with Congress and partner agencies, including USAID, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the State Department. WWF also advocates for strong domestic policies to combat climate change, protect endangered species, and conserve important American landscapes and seascapes, including the grasslands of the Northern Great Plains and the Alaskan Arctic.

Supporting wildlife conservation

WWF has helped make the U.S. a global leader on efforts to conserve international species and combat wildlife trafficking around the globe, working to secure a U.S. National Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking in 2014 and the passage of the END Wildlife Trafficking Act in 2016. WWF has also played a central role in the creation and growth of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds – USFWS programs that help protect elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, and marine turtles.

Protecting forests

WWF has worked closely with U.S. government partners to protect tropical forests and prevent illegal timber trade around the globe, helping to strengthen U.S. laws against the import and trade in illegal wood products and secure passage of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, which creates incentives for developing countries to protect their forests through debt-for-nature swaps.

Safeguarding our oceans

WWF has also helped catalyze U.S. government efforts to protect coral reefs, working with U.S. agencies in support of the Coral Triangle Initiative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and to prevent Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, helping to secure new government policies to ensure that fish being imported into the U.S. and purchased by American consumers have been caught legally and sustainably.

Climate change commitments

WWF also played a leading role in advocating for strong American commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement and continues to work to advance federal policies to ensure the U.S. meets these commitments and transitions to a clean energy economy.