Projects

As one of the world’s thirstiest crops, sugarcane has a significant environmental impact—particularly when it comes to water use and quality—on many critical regions, from Southeast Asia’s Mekong River Delta to Central America’s Mesoamerican Reef. Yet it can be produced in environmentally, socially and economically sustainable ways.

WWF’s Wildlife Adaptation Innovation Fund supports the testing of new ideas that have potential to reduce the vulnerability of wildlife to changes in climate through on-the-ground projects. Successes and lessons learned from these pilot projects provide useful guidance that move conservation beyond business-as-usual approaches and successful efforts can be replicated or taken to scale to help wildlife endure under conditions of rapid change. Projects piloted through this fund must meet the following criteria:

• Address climate vulnerability of one or more target species through interventions that directly support those species or help communities adapt to change and thus reduce pressure on target species.
• Be implemented in one year or less with plans to monitor results in following years.
• Focus on on-the-ground project implementation of a project rather than research.

Fishing feeds billions of people and is vital to the economies of countless coastal communities. But unsustainable practices litter the ocean with deadly traps that needlessly kill marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds.

Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, commonly referred to as ghost gear, contribute significantly to the problem of plastic pollution in our ocean. These gillnets, traps, and other types of fishing gear are particularly harmful because they can continue to catch target and non-target species indiscriminately for years. This impacts important food resources as well as endangered species. Because of this, ghost gear has been coined as the most deadly form of marine plastic debris, damaging vital ocean habitats, aquatic life, and livelihoods.

Remembering Mr. Russell E. Train, founder, past president, and past chairman emeritus passed away on September 17, 2012 at the age of 92.

Tiger ‘farms’ are captive facilities that breed tigers to supply or directly engage in the commercial trade of tiger parts or products. WWF is calling for greater oversight and protection of all captive tigers.