Stories: People & Communities

In the Central African Republic, WWF supports the Indigenous Ba’Aka tribe of Dzanga-Sangha in social distancing to protect themselves from COVID-19. 

In Northeast China, the only all-female ranger team monitors the region's tiger range. 

Around the world, communities depend on mangroves for food, protection, and income. These coastal forests provide for communities and the communities, in turn, protect the mangroves. It’s a relationship found all over the world across the more than 100 countries where mangroves guard the coast. Here are four places where a snapshot tells the story.

Zoonotic emerging infectious diseases are transmitted from a host animal to humans, sometimes by way of an intermediate host known as a vector.

Environmental destruction and the high-risk wildlife trade are intimately connected with the emergence of new zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, but conservation could help prevent future pandemics.

Illegal snaring is a rampant threat to wildlife and people in the forests of Southeast Asia. Snares are used to capture animals for the illegal wildlife trade. WWF-supported ranger patrols are working to address this crisis by removing snares. 

A new solar-powered borehole is drilled for the Kapau community in Zambia's Sioma Ngwezi National Park. This water source provides the community with several benefits, including reducing the instances of human wildlife conflict (HWC) that were resulting from sharing resources.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to our oceans today. While cleaning up existing trash is a critical step on the path to a healthier planet, what's even more important is turning off the tap to stop the flow of plastic into our environment altogether. Research shows that as few as 100 companies could prevent 50 million tons of plastic waste. In 2019, WWF launched ReSource: Plastic, a new global initiative to help companies turn their plastic reduction commitments into measureable action.

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.

Last year, WWF partner National Habitat led the first-ever Zero-Waste Adventure, demonstrating new possibilities for more sustainable travel.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Established by WWF Nepal in 2016, RRTs help to engage communities in wildlife protection efforts, manage human-wildlife conflict, and monitor poaching and other illegal activities. Today, there are nearly 60 RRTs across Nepal.

This is a challenging time for conservation. But every day, more and more brave people are looking beyond those obstacles, not giving in to despair, and making enlightened choices that can change our planet for the better.

Meeta is a young mother from India. Back-to-back pregnancies and heavy housework responsibilities took a toll on her health and wellbeing. Noting her declining health, a neighborhood social worker invited Meeta and her husband Ramkishore to participate in a CARE maternal health program that fostered open communication, education and access to family planning information.

As WWF works with communities around the world to preserve habitats, wildlife, and natural resources, we know that it is critical to engage both women and men for the best results—environmentally, socially, and economically.

In Mozambique’s Primeiras e Segundas region, villagers are taking part in a savings and loan association that’s revolutionizing how they manage their financial and natural resources.

The Luangwa River is one of the longest remaining free-flowing rivers in Southern Africa. It flows through an area which boasts some of the most pristine habitats left in Zambia for elephants, lions, leopards and a myriad of other wildlife. A dam has been proposed on the Luangwa that would flood almost the entire Luembe chiefdom, destroying habitats and displacing thousands of people.  

When his three daughters were hungry, Omary Mbunda would turn to illegal timber for money. That changed when the CARE-WWF Alliance—a partnership focused on creating food systems that better nourish vulnerable communities while supporting healthy ecosystems—began promoting sustainable forestry management and conservation agriculture in Mbondo in 2015.

In Kyrgyzstan, community based conservation activities led by Farida Balbakova have paved the way for an integrated, climate-smart landscape management plan to protect the snow leopard.