Wildlife Conservation Projects

• Wildlife Crime Technology Project

  Over four and a half years, the Google.org-funded Wildlife Crime Technology Project (WCTP) provided WWF a platform to innovate and test a number of innovative technologies, many of which have the potential to change the course of the global fight against wildlife crime. 

  

• Crime Convergence:  Natural Resource Exploitation and Transnational Organized Crime

  Illegal exploitation of natural resources and wildlife including wildlife trafficking, and crimes associated with logging, mining, fishing, land conversion, and others are all crimes that threaten ecosystems, contribute to climate change, worsen food and economic security, and undermine global efforts to promote sustainability and conservation. Together, the illegal trade or trafficking in natural resources, is the third-largest criminal sector worldwide, generating between USD 110 to 280 billion annually. Despite their staggering scale and impact, these crimes are often mischaracterized as primarily conservation issues, when in reality, they are deeply connected to the world of transnational organized criminal networks.

• Environmental DNA

  By taking samples of soil, water, snow, or even air, we can access the environmental DNA (or eDNA) that animals naturally shed—like hair, skin, and feces—as they move through their environment. eDNA can then be used to detect endangered species, study the impacts of climate change, alert us to invisible threats such as pathogens, and assess the overall health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

  

• Toward a healthy planet: Implementing a One Health approach to conservation

• Conserving Wildlife and Enabling Communities in Namibia

  Namibia is home to an array of wildlife, from ostriches and zebras roaming the gravel plains to penguins and seals chilling in the Atlantic currents. It was the first African country to incorporate protection of the environment into its constitution. With WWF’s help, the government has reinforced this conservation philosophy by empowering its communities with rights to manage and benefit from the country’s wildlife through communal conservancies.