Publications

Transparent 2021 is the latest annual report from ReSource: Plastic examining where and how its Member companies have made progress on plastic waste mitigation.

In the face of the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, governments and their partners in communities and civil society have increased their efforts to protect and enhance sustainable use of nature. These efforts have been identified as strategic to fulfill the anticipated global goal to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. Reaching this goal will require more—and more effectively managed—protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, but current funding is not enough to cover existing needs or to increase the areas under protection.

Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) is an approach designed to secure the policies, capacity, institutional arrangements and full funding for the effective and long-lasting protection of our planet’s important natural places. It is being applied in Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, and Peru, being designed in Colombia, and there is increased interest in applying the PFP approach in other countries.

This guide seeks to describe the PFP approach and capture the experience from practitioners and lessons learned to date. It is intended to be a reference for people from public or private organizations who want to implement a PFP.

Climate Crowd On The Ground is a compilation of 15 Climate Crowd projects implemented in 8 countries, helping to build the resilience of people and nature to a changing climate. These projects are informed, designed, and implemented hand in hand with rural communities around the world. A big focus of the projects is improved water security, for example through rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, fog catchers, solar-powered boreholes, and greywater recycling. Other projects focus on climate-smart agriculture, alternative livelihoods, education for schools, reforestation, clean cookstoves, and weather stations. The Climate Crowd methodology is to provide training and guidance to local partners who work with communities to collect data using a key informant survey. The Climate Crowd team then analyzes the data, compiling summary reports that highlight key trends. The findings are then presented back to the communities, and we work with them to co-design and implement on-the-ground projects to address climate vulnerabilities using funding from Climate Crowd.

A "game-changing" ban on commercial processing and trade in elephant ivory was implemented by the State Council, China's Cabinet, on December 31, 2017. TRAFFIC and WWF commissioned GlobeScan before the ban became effective in 2017 to conduct the largest-ever ivory consumer research in China. This research has been conducted annually using the same methodology and surveying consumers in the same 15 cities. We believe this to be the most in-depth, longest-running research effort into consumer demand for ivory to date.

WWF’s inaugural Native Nations Partnership Report presents a summary of WWF's collaborative projects with Native nations over the past several years.

10 Rivers at Risk highlights threats posed by hydropower to free-flowing rivers & the diverse benefits they provide to people and nature. The report includes case studies of the 10 priority rivers that are threatened around the world: Asia—Mekong, Irrawaddy and Sepik; Europe—Vjosa, Vistula, and Isel; Africa—Mara and Kavango; and Latin America and the Caribbean—Tapajos and Upper Paraguay. To save these rivers, governments, developers, and investors can act to reassess renewable energy portfolios that focus on low cost, low carbon, and low conflict energy options to benefit the rivers and surrounding communities.

Wildlife dispersal from one forested area to another is crucial for gene flow and maintaining genetic diversity. Unfortunately, growing urbanization and development across landscapes has led to the fragmentation of forested wildlife habitats and, today, these patches of forests are primarily contained within protected areas. Corridors, which include defined forested areas intermixed with grasslands and wetlands, provide connectivity between protected areas and are integral for easy dispersal of wildlife populations in conservation landscapes. With wildlife populations declining globally, it is imperative to prioritize or scale up restoration efforts in corridors, particularly in large natural areas and interconnected forests.

This publication addresses the many interventions, achievements, challenges, and setbacks faced while restoring the critical corridors of the Terai Arc Landscape, highlighting its relationship with the Government of Nepal, local communities, and conservation partners.

Plastic does not belong in nature. 

In order to achieve No Plastic in Nature by 2030, a combination of various coordinated strategies must be pursued. Strategies driven by the private sector must include reducing single use plastic, shifting to sustainable inputs for necessary plastic, improving end-of-life management, designing longer-living products, and extended producer responsibility. These approaches must be paired with government and consumer action including international policy, improvements to waste management, and increased public awareness. 

WWF is cautious in regard to plastic crediting because there are not yet clear standards/processes associated with this concept and, depending on how they are developed, crediting mechanisms may enable companies to claim they are taking action without making substantial changes to their business. Business as usual will not solve the global plastic pollution crisis. WWF acknowledges that, if developed appropriately, plastic crediting has the potential to drive investment towards circular systems.

WWF believes only credible plastic crediting systems that contribute to transformational change should be pursued. Plastic crediting activities may serve as an ADDITIONAL approach to robust plastic waste reduction strategies if a strong and credible standard for crediting exists and is adhered to, prerequisites are defined and met, and strong social and environmental safeguards are upheld. Any claims based on credits must be supported by transparent reporting of the company’s plastic footprint (see Transparent 2020 for an example of comprehensive plastic reporting). WWF does not support the use of the terms “plastic neutral” or “plastic neutrality” as they do not clearly convey true environmental impact.

Public perceptions about pandemics and their links to nature in China, Myanmar, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam

In the summer of 2019, WWF launched an emergency fund in response to the fires raging in the Amazon. In the summer of 2019, WWF launched an emergency fund in response to the fires raging in the Amazon. At their peak in August, there were 30,901 fire outbreaks recorded – three times that of August 2018.

This first-ever systematic review of snow leopard research conducted to date highlights some glaring gaps in our knowledge of this elusive and threatened big cat and reveals that lack of basic data could be hampering their conservation.