Publications

This executive summary brief explains how federal subsidies for crop insurance and the Renewable Fuel Standard have inadvertently incentivized the conversion of grasslands. It also discusses how grasslands can be prioritized through programs and legislation.

WWF GEF Kenya Lake Naivasha CEO Letter

WWFGEF Lake Naivasha Project Document

A corruption-oriented situation analysis can help conservation and natural resource management (NRM) practitioners understand and respond to the threats that corruption poses to conservation and NRM outcomes. As part of the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project, WWF teams in different countries conducted situation analyses to inform both small-scale pilot projects and large-scale investments, in each case aiming to get a better idea of the ways that corruption may impact NRM activities and how they could design projects that would respond more effectively to those threats. Part I of this guide collects lessons from their experience and provides insights on implementing this type of analysis. Part II shares three case studies and analysis tools for doing corruption-oriented situation analysis.

For more resources and tools, visit TNRCproject.org.

WWF Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Engineering (IoE), Tribhuvan University on May 04, 2023.

This MoU will help IoE develop a curriculum on "Natural Resource Safeguards in Infrastructure", which will be embedded in the course of the Bachelor's Degree for IoE (TU).

Dr. Ghana Shyam Gurung, Country Representative of WWF Nepal, and Professor Dr. Shashidhar Ram Joshi, Dean of IoE shared their commitment to promoting natural resource safeguard through academia.

Zero Wild Meat was an innovative campaign launched by WWF between October and December 2022 that spotlighted two serious threats—risks to public health and risks to nature—in order to reduce the consumption of wild meat in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR.

This brief highlights the importance and potential of robust internal controls in helping achieve the objectives of agencies tasked with protecting wildlife and the environment by identifying performance gaps and opportunities for improvement, enabling oversight, and fostering accountability. However, in some countries, internal controls are not always applied to wildlife-related corruption or even natural resource management. Conservation or anticorruption partners can help government institutions strengthen their systems of internal controls, building on procedures already in place. Well-designed systems of internal controls can discourage corrupt behavior and mitigate other risks to wildlife and natural resources. While no system can completely eliminate the potential for corrupt behavior, enhancing internal controls can help close the implementation gap between agency objectives and what happens in practice.

For more resources and tools, visit TNRCproject.org.

There are challenges facing the preservation and management of protected natural areas in Serbia, despite the country's positive regulations and commitments. Illegal construction and large capital projects have endangered these areas due to limited management opportunities and insufficient government action and civil society organizations have limited standing to act in procedures related to the protection of these areas, which further hinders their active participation. This manual helps Serbian civil society organizations understand rules of spatial and urban planning, opportunities for public participation, key illegal practices in the management and implementation of activities within protected areas, legal procedures, and how to improve citizen participation to combat corruption.

This manual was created as part of the "Systematic and early engagement as a cure for policy capture and a key instrument for prevention of corruption in policy planning" project implemented by WWF Adria in Serbia, funded by the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project.

For more resources and tools, visit TNRCproject.org.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a collaboration of over 150 national and local governments and more than 1000 civil society partners working to promote transparent, participatory, inclusive, and accountable governance. OGP offers a promising opportunity to bring transparency, participation, and accountability to the governance of natural resources, as participating governments collaborate with their civil societies to commit to concrete, impactful reforms to bring transparency, accountability, and participation to bear on the most relevant and important challenges those publics face. This guidance shows how conservation organizations can start taking advantage of OGP as a possible key platform for accomplishing conservation priorities.

Visit the TNRC Knowledge Hub for more resources.

In recognition of the growing social, economic, and environmental impacts of the global sand crisis, WWF, and Northwestern University (ISEN) organized a series of seminars, convening global experts from across disciplines and sectors to explore solutions. The Call to Action Report distills key recommended action items focused on research, practice, and policy based on the seminar series presentations and discussions.

To affect positive change for climate, nature, and people, NRCS should leverage IRA resources to prioritize and enable a significant step forward for robust, regenerative, and resilient food systems. 

This practice note is based on interviews with 18 people who worked in or with justice systems in Africa, Asia, and South America, to understand their perception of the effect case monitoring can have on corruption in the justice system. Monitoring cases can help identify and highlight weaknesses in the justice system and reduce corruption vulnerabilities related to wildlife crime cases. But projects must be designed with appropriate scope and resources, as impact takes time and is difficult to measure. Monitoring is likely most effective when monitors use multiple cases to identify patterns of red flags that indicate systematic failures. This note recommends several good practices, based on the interviewees' and authors' experiences. However, these practices must always be tailored to a specific context. 

For more resources and tools, visit TNRCproject.org.

The rhino horn trade represents one of the four largest illegal wildlife trade flows by value and corruption is a key facilitator. Visualizing how corruption manifests along the supply chain can help conservation practitioners and wildlife management agencies better understand both the specific risks and the potential responses to combat illegal rhino horn and other illicit wildlife trades. This guide includes an infographic and accompanying text that maps the areas along the rhino horn supply chain that are most vulnerable to corruption and identifies feasible entry points for different anti-corruption approaches.

For more resources and tools, visit TNRCproject.org.

Infrastructure is the fundamental human enterprise that we must get right or risk undermining our chances of restoring biodiversity and a healthy climate.

The global biodiversity framework (GBF) presents a unique opportunity to drive a global shift toward inclusive nature- and climate-positive infrastructure that meets humanity’s aspirations while restoring a thriving planet. Given its profound long-term effects, infrastructure must remain clear and visible in the final GBF.

This half-day exploration will celebrate new initiatives, unpack lessons learned, and unveil innovations on how to build back biodiversity with increased resilience and connectivity through a participatory and integrated approach at scale. New norms must emerge that incorporate early planning, careful design, and strong safeguards; embrace and respect the voices of all stakeholders, including vulnerable populations, Indigenous peoples, and local communities; restore and manage natural infrastructure; generate an ecosystemfriendly energy future; and accelerate the growing wave of investor interest in financing biodiversity-positive, climate-smart, and equitable infrastructure. Each is an essential element of a new paradigm for infrastructure that must evolve in order to achieve our goal of restoring a healthy and thriving planet.

Asia is home to extraordinary biodiversity, including endangered species such as Bengal tigers and Asian elephants. Yet, rapidly expanding infrastructure development could bisect important habitats and affect access to vital natural resources that people depend upon for their livelihoods.

This initiative will address adverse impacts of linear infrastructure development—such as roads and power lines—in Asia to support people and nature and conserve biodiversity.