Forest Habitat Stories

Marisela Silva Parra, 41, is the only female member of a WWF-supported group of local farmers and community leaders who are helping their community realize the value of its natural resources. The group calls themselves Los Exploradores—The Explorers.

In partnership with local Indigenous organization Azicatch, WWF is supporting the work of Ecosystem Services Assessment Technical Teams, which combines traditional knowledge with modern conservation practice. The aim is to strengthen Indigenous decision-making and governance and create an environmental management plan for their territory.

Bearcats inhabit the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia, spending most of their time high in tree canopies. And they're especially known for one strange attribute: They smell like popcorn.

Working alongside communities, governments, and scientists, WWF-Nepal has become an intrepid leader in protecting and conserving endangered tigers and the habitats where they live.

Nepal's Khata Corridor was once desolate land. Now, thanks to WWF and partners, the corridor is a perfect thruway for tigers and other dispersing animals.

In Malaysian state of Sabah, WWF is helping to establish a wildlife corridor through a palm oil plantation to connect two reserves, which will protect crops and allow wildlife to roam freely.

In the aftermath of Australia’s devastating bushfires, WWF deployed field detection dogs to help locate surviving wildlife. During five days of searches in January 2020, the dogs found 10 koalas.

Sloths are slow-moving creatures that spend their lives in tree canopies, munching on leaves and napping. When you spot one, you have time to think. Still, getting this shot had its challenges.

The conservation and restoration of forests is a necessary component of a future where humanity is better able to manage and cope with the emergence of new infectious diseases. Without landscapes that balance the needs of both nature and people, the world will continue only to react to global health crises instead of preventing them.

Tiger King, Netflix’s new docu-series, is roaring with popularity, but behind the drama, there is a frightful truth: captive tigers in the United States are a significant conservation issue and could impact tigers in the wild.

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.

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.

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 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.

Mangroves are a vibrant part of coastal wetlands on five continents. Explore some of the most diverse coastal forests around the world.

A recent survey revealed the largest number of mountain gorillas ever recorded in a large swathe of protected forest in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WWF and partners counted 459 individuals, up from an estimated 400 in 2011, in the 83,840-acre Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem.

More than 200,000 acres of a transboundary territory for tigers, leopards, and other species have been established in the Russian Far East as a new protected area.

Tigers living on the Malayan Peninsula—a region that includes parts of Thailand, Malyasia, and Myanmar—are at risk of going extinct in just the next two to three years.

Forest restoration is a complex undertaking that can never fully bring back the original forest. That’s why it’s far better to conserve existing healthy forests and prevent them from being degraded or destroyed in the first place.

The spot where I captured this image is between two trees, giving a sense of depth, and one, a “marking tree,” has been scratched everywhere by tigers.

WWF and World Resources Institute partnered with a lab to examine 73 commercial wood products sold by major US retailers. Forty of them were labeled as the wrong tree species.

New images from the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon show what conservationists have long known: that people harvesting trees responsibly can live harmoniously with animals.

Our forests are in crisis. Nearly half of all global forests are under threat of deforestation and forest degradation, which represents a major risk to global climate, biodiversity, water, people, and businesses who depend on healthy forests. HP is one company that’s responding to this need for action.