WWF works to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife, collaborating with partners from local to global levels in nearly 100 countries.
“There can be no protection of the planet without the protection of people. And there can be no wellbeing for people without ensuring that our climate is stable, and the critical ecosystems that protect life on Earth, including our own, are made intact.” Carter Roberts, President and CEO, WWF-US
About the Alliance
The CARE-WWF Alliance was formed in 2008 to tackle complex global challenges that require a diverse range of experience and expertise. The Alliance works at the intersection of development and conservation, strengthening the power and determination of women in areas disproportionately impacted by climate change.
The Alliance brings together WWF’s conservation and restoration expertise; CARE’s work with women and girls; food, nutrition, and water security; and livelihood development expertise; and both organizations’ presence in more than 40 countries.
The CARE-WWF Alliance is active throughout the network of both organizations—implementing, partnering, convening and sharing in areas of the world where one or both institutions have an active presence or have established local partners.
Agatha Mkayula and Rhoida Chonya (blue scarf) in a field managed by her Village Savings and Loan Association, supported by CARE-WWF Alliance in Tanzania.
Vision:
A world where thriving communities are the architects of their own future, in which resilient ecosystems drive green growth and wellbeing for all.
Mission:
To champion the power and resilience of women, communities, and ecosystems so current and future generations can thrive.
Guiding principals:
Environmental conservation and human wellbeing are linked and must be addressed in an integrated approach
Alliance programming will add value and maximize synergies in the delivery of each institution's mission
Alliance programming will strengthen the agency of women and their communities and strengthen local capacity and ownership to increase resilience and sustainability in crucial ecosystems
Sowing Change
Sowing Change is a livelihood-to-leadership initiative in which women lead their communities to identify local solutions to climate challenges. As the water gatherers, food producers, and stewards of natural resources, women have intimate insight into the real effects of our changing climate. Including them in resource decisions offers a vital lens to ensuring sustainable solutions that will work now and help their families adapt along the way.
Sowing Change is active in Kenya’s Western Kilimanjaro Amboseli-Chyulu sub-landscape near the southern border of Tanzania where WWF-Kenya works with CARE Kenya to support women and their communities in starting nature-based enterprises like beekeeping and goat farming, with an emphasis on addressing poor milk production and marketing through improved feeding systems, enhanced milk chains, more resilient dairy breeds and strengthening of milk marketing.
The program launched in Colombia in February 2025 and will launch in Zambia and Tanzania in late 2025.
With Sowing Change, CARE-WWF Alliance takes an important step in aligning nature and people in the pursuit of solutions to restore our planet. Solutions that start small, adapt to localized learning, and expand to nearly all regions across the globe.
For more information on Sowing Change and how you can be part of this global movement, contact Cheryl Margoluis, Executive Director, CARE-WWF Alliance.
Additional Programs
The Alliance is also involved in several global programs that include WWF and CARE in a wider partnership collaboration. The Alliance contributes to these programs in a variety of ways, including conducting research, convening partners, and generating and disseminating learning. The programs currently include:
The Alliance serves as a resource and thought leader for both organizations to strengthen programming within the environmental stewardship and human development sectors. These activities include:
Facilitating strategic partnerships and collaboration between CARE and WWF offices throughout the world.
Identifying potential funding opportunities for a range of activities and programs.
Providing technical support in program design and fundraising.
Developing, supporting and scaling innovative solutions and emerging models.
Supporting project management to ensure technical quality.
Developing partnerships with global organizations, universities and other research organizations.
Representing the Alliance at global conferences and communities of practice to share lessons learned and encourage similar programming.
Assisting in advocacy efforts for policies at all levels that advance conservation and development.
Mozambique: Primeiras and Segundas Archipiélago (2008-2018)
Following the official launch in 2008, the CARE-WWF Alliance began working on its first programming area: the Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago off the coast of Northern Mozambique. The archipelago is one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems, yet pressures from climate change, unsustainable fishing practices, and mangrove destruction were putting immense stress on the ecosystem and people of the region. The program's work focused on:
Promoting resilient agriculture to increase yields and income in the face of climate change.
Enabling local communities to manage forests, fisheries, and other natural resources more sustainably.
Improving the financial literacy of the most vulnerable, particularly women, through village savings and loan associations that improve savings practices and increase access to credit.
The Alliance's second programming project took place in Nepal, lasting from 2011-2021. Located at the juncture of the Indian subcontinent and Asia proper, forests comprise over 44% of Nepal's land mass, and the country boasts over 23% as an officially designated protected area. However, with 23.8% of the nation living below the poverty line, Nepal's natural beauty and resources are threatened by haphazard infrastructure development, a gross overuse of natural resources, and continuing threats from climate shocks. Facing these challenges, the CARE-WWF Alliance began the Hariyo Ban Program, named after the famous Nepali saying 'Hariyo Ban Nepal ko Dhan' (healthy green forests are the wealth of Nepal) with the following key priorities.
Conserve Nepal’s forests and its wildlife.
Accelerate ecological and community resistance to climate change by supporting women and communities.
Nachingwea's Miombo forest is near the Selous, one of Africa's largest and most threatened forest reserves. It is part of a vital woodland network that houses some of Africa's largest elephant herds. Unfortunately, the Miombo forest is also subject to illegal logging and poaching activities due to high poverty rates. Because the communities surrounding the forest rely on it for food, shelter, and income, the Alliance centered its work around four main outcomes.
Community-based conservation organizations demonstrating more access to and sustainable management of Miombo forest.
Women smallholder farmers adopting nature-positive agriculture practices on their farms.
Local communities engaging in diversified, sustainable livelihood activities.
Local communities, especially women, demonstrating a greater ability to hold duty bearers accountable for decisions that affect ecosystems.
The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania program is a public-private partnership initiated by the Tanzanian government to encourage increased investment in agricultural growth in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and inclusive of small producers. The CARE-WWF Alliance brings value to the partnership by drawing on CARE’s deep expertise in improving markets for smallholders and WWF’s extensive experience helping companies green their supply chains.
Extend informal savings groups and collective access to financial services to 5,000 farming families (22,500 individuals), especially women.
Increase sustainable investment and production to improve small-scale farmer income by 60% and food security by 20%.
Improve ecosystem resilience and functions in production landscapes in Ndembera sub-catchment of the Great Ruaha River.
Strengthen public and private partnerships to improve small-scale producer access to extension, inputs, markets, financial services, and benefits from ecosystem services
"Women play a critical role at the intersection of development and conservation," says WWF's Loren Mayor. "And I’ve had the privilege to witness just how powerful they become as agents of change when that role is acknowledged, invested in, and celebrated. Sowing Change does all three."
