Stories

In a significant step forward for nature and communities that depend on the mighty Mekong River, the Cambodian government has abandoned plans to build the Sambor hydropower dam and has put a 10-year moratorium on any new dams on the Mekong mainstem.

As we all adjust to this ever-evolving situation, we hope it's comforting to know you are not dealing with this alone. Here are a few activities to help you learn about and explore our natural world from home.

In Guatemala, thousands of people call the Teculutan and Pasabien watersheds home. Under the cover of iconic cloud forests, rivers flow down from the mountainous region called the Sierra de Las Minas; providing fresh water for nature and these communities, for drinking, hygiene and sanitation, agriculture, as well as for business operations and so much more.

It's one of the most common questions we receive—and a good one. The answer comes down to a single word: intention.

The latest survey assessing the population of monarch butterflies that winter in Mexico indicates a population decrease of 53% since the previous season. In the 2019-2020 wintering season, the area of forest occupied by monarch butterflies was 7 acres, down from 15 acres in the 2018 - 2019 season.

In Nepal, citizen scientists are working with biologists from WWF to help protect tigers, rhinos, elephants, and other wildlife found in Bardia National Park.

Every year, WWF activists head to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives about pertinent conservation issues as part of Lobby Day. We spoke with three participants from around the country to learn why they’re attending Lobby Day and what issues are most important to them.

In Tanzania, many urban and rural areas still function under traditional customs that put women at a social and economic disadvantage. Fortunately, those discriminatory traditions, norms, and stereotypes are being challenged. Sijali Kipuli from Somanga Village in Tanzania shows us how a social system in savings and credits can economically liberate the poorest people and empower women.

Abstract

At about 6,900 meters below the ocean surface, a team of scientists discovered a new species. One of four specimens of the crustacean had been polluted with plastic before it had even become known to science.

At the close of 2019, Congress reached final agreement on year-long legislation to fund the U.S. government, including some big wins for wildlife. The bill included significant increases for programs that help to conserve global wildlife populations and habitat and to combat wildlife trafficking.

WWF’s lead on socially inclusive conservation, Althea Skinner is one of WWF’s core experts on the intersection between conservation and human rights.

In honor of World Wildlife Day, we celebrate some hopeful conservation stories to remind us actions make a difference and there’s still time to preserve our natural world if we all do our part.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is located in one of the largest remaining natural areas on the planet: Alaska. The species that call the refuge home have been protected from the risks of unsustainable development for decades, but in 2017 Congress approved opening the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to allow for oil and gas drilling.

We can and must rethink our approach to development—what it looks like, what it’s delivering, and how it’s meeting our needs—to ensure that it's more useful for people and less harmful to wildlife.

Human health and the health of our environment are inextricably linked. Our collective resilience, well-being, nutrition, and ability to avert disease is fully connected to the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the ways we interact with nature.

Once virtually extinct in Russia, the Persian leopard is showing signs of a comeback in the region. Restoring a population takes time so each sighting of a leopard in the wild stirs excitement.

In a first-of-its-kind study, the Global Futures Report calculates the economic cost of nature’s decline across 140 countries using a new economic and environmental modeling technique to assess what the macroeconomic impact would be if the world didn’t act now to protect the planet. The United States will see the losses of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) totaling $83 billion taken from its economy each year by 2050 if the world doesn’t act urgently to address the global environmental crisis.

An estimated 1 million pangolins were trafficked in the last ten years, though this number may be conservative given the volume of recent pangolin scale seizures. Learn what WWF and partners are doing to stop the extinction of this elusive mammal.

In Bolivia’s Chiquitano Dry Forest region, flames impacted 5.4 million acres of forest. Thanks to WWF supporters, our on-the-ground partners were able to help the community begin to recover.

The Northern Great Plains is one of the world’s last great, remaining grasslands. Across its 183 million acres, nearly 132 million remain intact. Among those acres that are still intact, approximately 70% is privately owned, and often by ranching families.

In 2009, principal and teacher Marcia Novakc da Silva decided to join forces to start a community rainwater project, led by the organization Incra and supported by WWF. The work is one of  several projects for the recovery of the springs and water supply in region.

Illegal killings of rhinos in South Africa are on the decline. In 2019, poachers killed 594 rhinos, down from 769 in the year prior, according to South Africa’s Department of the Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries.