Publications

With massive infrastructure plans threatening all tiger landscapes and risking recent gains in tiger conservation, Asian governments must adopt a sustainable approach to infrastructure planning and construction or drive tigers toward extinction, according to a new analysis by WWF.

Released at the halfway point of an ambitious global effort to double the number of wild tigers between 2010 and 2022, The Road Ahead: Protecting Tigers from Asia’s Infrastructure Development Boom highlights the unprecedented threat posed by a vast network of planned infrastructure across the continent.

The current elephant poaching crisis costs African countries around $25 million annually in lost tourism revenue, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications. Comparing this lost revenue with the cost of halting declines in elephant populations due to poaching, the study determines that investment in elephant conservation is economically favorable across the majority of African elephants’ range.

The Living Planet Report, produced every two years by WWF, is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet. By providing an overview of the state of the natural world, human impacts and potential solutions, it aims to support governments, communities, businesses and organizations to make informed decisions on using and protecting the planet’s resources.

Snow Leopard poaching and trafficking—referred to herein as Snow Leopard crime—is revisited 13 years after TRAFFIC's first report on the subject, Fading Footprints: The Killing and Trade of Snow Leopards. This report builds on a preliminary analysis published in May 2016. It addresses a major information gap concerning the linkage between retaliatory killing for livestock depredation and poaching for trade, and the scale at which both are taking place. 

Asia's high mountains are the Earth's "Third Pole," an ice and snow-covered landscape that forms the headwaters of Asia's most economically and culturally important rivers. The Third Pole, home to the iconic and endangered snow leopard, is also highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The WWF Conservation and Adaptation in Asia's High Mountain Landscapes and Communities Project is funded by USAID and aims to galvanize greater understanding and action at local, national, and regional levels to conserve the iconic snow leopard. 

This study was undertaken to determine the population size, density, and distribution of snow leopards and their prey species in Bhutan's Wangchuck Centennial National Park (WCNP). It is the first systematic assessment of snow leopard abundance and density in WCNP and provides baseline data that will inform future initiatives to conserve this endangered big cat. 

This rapid assessment by TRAFFIC of domestic ivory markets in the U.S. finds that state bans seem to be having an impact on reducing the open availability of elephant ivory in formerly significant urban markets.

Offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic is a disastrous idea. It would lead to the release of millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere at a time when we should be cutting emissions. There’s also the near-certain risk of spills. This infographic lays out the detailed case for keeping the oil under the sea.

Climate change is already changing the Arctic, and current carbon reduction commitments will not be enough to stop this transformation cold. This executive summary of a July 2016 Columbia Climate Center workshop details why global leaders must focus on helping the region adapt and accelerate a reduction in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Climate change is already changing the Arctic, and current carbon reduction commitments will not be enough to stop this transformation cold. Instead, world leaders must focus on helping the region adapt and accelerate a reduction in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This paper summarizes the outcomes of this workshop and highlights how world leaders can move forward.

WWF has scored 137 companies on their use of certified sustainable palm oil, which is grown in ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions, preserve forests and fresh water, and protect wildlife. See which brands are taking action and which are falling short.

The Plowprint Report, which includes both a general information and technical version, has been developed to broaden public awareness of grasslands loss, and to offer a consistent way for the conservation community to track year-to-year grassland conversion to cropland across the focal regions of the Mississippi River Basin and Great Plains. This is the first edition of the full technical report, which will be released on an annual basis.

The Plowprint Report, which includes both a general information and technical version, has been developed to broaden public awareness of grasslands loss, and to offer a consistent way for the conservation community to track year-to-year grassland conversion to cropland across the focal regions of the Mississippi River Basin and Great Plains. This is the first edition of the report, which will be released on an annual basis.

WWF and TRAFFIC believe that an ivory trade ban in China is feasible and could be effective in contributing to a reduction in current threats to African elephants. Such an ambitious and achievable act could garner positive exposure for China's responsible action on a critical wildlife conservation issue and become a positive influence on other countries' efforts to tackle the illicit ivory trade. 

A new report from WWF highlights important signs that an unstoppable global energy transition is underway. The report notes that the recently agreed Paris Agreement on climate change draws a line in the sand for the transformation of the world’s energy system into a clean and sustainable form.

Since CoP16, international momentum has been building against wildlife crime, with a raft of global declarations and commitments to tackle poaching and wildlife trafficking. This report outlines WWF's stance on African elephant issues at CoP17.