Stories

In a landmark study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science, WWF, and collaborators have unveiled an innovative method for extracting DNA from the snow tracks of three elusive carnivores, including polar bears. The new technique involves retrieving trace amounts of environmental DNA—known as eDNA—shed from the footpads of these animals in the snow, enabling the identification of individual animals.

For Sandra Antipani, this kind of tourism is key to ensuring the long-term conservation of her island home and a tangible way for her to share her community’s wisdom.

New data detailing the abundance of the eastern monarch butterfly colonies wintering in central Mexico’s forests estimate that the species occupied only 2.2 acres during the 2023-2024 winter season—59% less than the previous year when scientists observed 5.5 acres.

Before International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11th, we asked some of our female scientists why they decided to pursue a career in conservation science specifically, and how they stay inspired

Skilled scientists in India completed the first-ever rigorous examination of the country’s snow leopard population, estimating that 718 of these iconic big cats live within the country’s borders.

Shifting norms and changing perspectives within the conservation community may be difficult, but it’s critical to moving in the right direction. Indeed, conservation may be destined to fail without it.

This is what conservation actually is: many people, from many different places, contributing at the level they can to get the job done. We’re Meeting people where they are, accepting their values, making space for their priorities, and working together.

Embracing circular ingredients means adopting a smart approach that transforms the way we handle food, elevating what was once seen as waste into a higher-value ingredient by either repurposing or preventing it.

The 2022 KAZA Elephant Survey was designed to help estimate elephant numbers, but it also provided other crucial information.

Climate change, shifting land use, and development increasingly isolate the world’s more than 200,000 protected areas.

In Southern Africa, five countries united by a shared vision for conservation undertake an elephant survey of historic proportions

As a child, artist Josh Gluckstein loved wandering through the wildlife exhibits at the London Natural History Museum.

Brazil launched the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) program with WWF and partners in 2002, setting an aspirational goal: permanently secure more than 150 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon.

No amount of research could prepare me for its stunning variety of landscapes and wildlife.

Choking up the world’s rivers and streams has had major consequences for biodiversity and people. Now many experts agree: Some dams have run their course.

Using cutting-edge technology, researchers are uncovering profound links among ocean health, climate change, and the denizens of the deep

Since 2014, WWF has partnered with Native Nations throughout the Northern Great Plains in support of their bison restoration efforts.

I was born and raised in the Chihuahuan Desert of northern Mexico and wandered in pecan orchards and swam in creeks and rivers as a child.

Analyzing the eDNA in 48 water samples, his team detected 134 species—including several tigers and their prey, such as muntjac and serow.

WWF and partners helped negotiate and fund a new “debt-for-nature swap” in the Peruvian Amazon.

I have been visiting this UNESCO World Heritage Site for 10 years, spending months at a time walking through the bush and photographing wildlife.

On World Water Day in 2022, Guli embarked on a yearlong journey, completing 200 marathons in water-stressed locations from Australia to Zambia.

As a child, after watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, she wanted to become a nature show host but thought “you had to cross oceans to find nature.”

I probably would have stayed put had it not been for the pure, incapable-of-lying joy in their voices as they begged me to join them.