Forests Stories

Local communities, Democratic Republic of Congo government representatives, WWF, and others met earlier this year to discuss plans for a forest conservation program in Maï-Ndombe.

Participants of the weeklong workshop, which was hosted by WWF and the Natural Capital Project, learned how to map out Mozambique’s natural resources, why the resources are important, how to build them into decisions about infrastructure and development, and more.

Thirty years later, WWF's Kate Newman returns to find signs of elephants, bonobos and more in Salonga National Park

As the second largest tropical forest park in the world, Salonga is a global treasure. It is home for bonobos and one of the last remaining habitats for the forest elephant. Now, a newly signed agreement brings together the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) and WWF to co-manage the protected area.

Forests all over the world have been harvested illegally or irresponsibly to meet escalating demand for pulp and paper.

A new survey conducted last December indicates migratory monarch butterfly populations grew in 2015, occupying almost 10 acres of forest in their hibernation sites in Mexico. Though this shows a boost from the previous two years, the numbers are considerably low compared to 20 years ago.

Eduardo Escompani Viñas is a shiringuero; he collects natural latex from shiringa trees. He and the other members of ECOMUSA, a cooperative of natural rubber producers, feel duty-bound to protect their natural resources and their way of life. They demonstrate that there are ways to reap the value and benefit of forests without harming them.

 

WWF’s plan to secure a permanent future for some of the highest-priority protected areas on Earth

Capturing atmospheric data in the Amazon

WWF’s approach is based in the fact that when geographically bound rhino populations reach the limit of numbers their habitat can support, reproduction drops.

A growing number of cooks in Peru rely on the country’s protected areas—parks, nature reserves, and sanctuaries—to keep their menus vibrant and their customers satisfied. That's part of why WWF is working with the Peruvian government and partners to fund the proper management of protected areas.

Every so often, it’s important to pause, take a step back, and celebrate the progress we’ve made together in conserving the world’s wildlife and beautiful places. And this year gave us much to applaud. Though our conservation challenges persist and there’s still much work to be done, we all need take a moment to appreciate just how far we’ve come by working in tandem to protect the planet we love.

US forest landowners play a huge role in saving the world’s forests. One way they can do so is by getting their land certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Learn how Stacey Locke did this—in collaboration with WWF, Domtar and others—and why her family’s forest in Arkansas is now a model for landowners across the Southeast.

What does the FSC® logo mean to you? Can you even name the type of products it references? Here’s the answer: the logo represents the Forest Stewardship Council®—and it signifies that the wood or paper product originated from a forest that was managed carefully with trees, animals, and local community benefit at heart.

Public, private, national, and international partners, including WWF, are working on a way to fund the permanent protection of Peru’s natural treasures. Such funds could be used to conduct wildlife surveys, create jobs in ecotourism, and purchase equipment that enables park rangers to better patrol protected areas.

Many wood products in American homes—from the kitchen table to hardwood floors—come from the same forested areas in Africa where elephants, rhinos, lions and other magnificent species roam wild. Few purchasers know that the wood from these forests is illegal. It was harvested, transported, processed, bought or sold in violation of national laws.

WWF's Meg Symington describes the luck and rewards of working to save the Amazon rain forest.

The world’s most popular vegetable oil—palm oil—is produced in tropical rain forests everywhere. While it can be produced sustainably, palm oil made with conventional production methods can lead to unchecked agricultural expansion that threatens forests and wildlife.

The Indonesian island of Sumatra—one of the most biodiverse places on the planet—has lost more than half of its forest cover in the last thirty years. But there are stands of amazing, still-intact forest in Sumatra, and Thirty Hills is one of them.

How indigenous communities, government agencies, nonprofits and businesses work together to stop the clearing of forests

Remember learning about photosynthesis back in school? This week, let’s go back to our science roots (pun unintended!) to see how this natural process makes forests both a contributor and solution to climate change. To understand the complex relation between forests and climate change, it is important to see trees and plants as playing multiple roles on the stage that is our planet.