Today President Obama announced the protection of Bristol Bay, Alaska, from offshore oil and gas drilling. Bristol Bay is home to the last pristine salmon ecosystem in North America and stands unmatched in its productivity. Nearly 50 percent of the world’s wild sockeye salmon come from these waters.

For decades, the Great Barrier Reef has enjoyed World Heritage Status and been synonymous with diving, tourism and with Australia. But in June of this year, UNESCO threatened to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef to the World Heritage ‘In Danger’ list; a category populated predominantly by war-torn and developing nations. The final decision should be made in 2015.

New research mapping a range of oil spill scenarios in the Canadian Beaufort Sea finds that a spill would likely reach the U.S. shorelines of Alaska and could affect the local communities and wildlife living there.

News that Soco will stop exploring for oil in Africa’s oldest national park, Virunga, is a monumental win for conservation and for the people who depend on the park. Virunga is home to astounding biodiversity and rare wildlife, like critically endangered mountain gorillas.

March 24 marks the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska that alerted the world to the dangers of oil development in the Arctic.

One of the largest oil and gas development companies in the world, Total SA, has committed to keeping out of all natural World Heritage Sites around the globe, including Virunga National Park. But one company that is not respecting World Heritage status is Soco International PLC, which plans to continue to explore in Virunga - home to more than half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. 

Plans by London-based oil company Soco International PLC to explore for oil in Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest national park, have hit firm opposition from the UK government.

The amount of ice covering the Arctic Ocean’s surface has reached its lowest point this year. Why is the ice melting so quickly? Black carbon is partly to blame.

Virunga is home is Africa's oldest national park and the greatest variety of wildlife on the continent. But there’s a real chance it could become its newest oil field. Some places are just too precious to be exploited in this way. Please help us and take action now.

Oil and gas group Total will not explore for oil within the boundaries of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chairman and CEO Cristophe de Margerie announced.

The United States will be required to develop a plan for responding to oil and gas spills in the Arctic Ocean if an agreement signed today by Secretary of State John Kerry and others is adhered to by the U.S. government.

As climate change melts Arctic sea ice, the Bering Strait is seeing a marked increase in shipping traffic. WWF is taking action to ensure that development in the Arctic occurs in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

Royal Dutch Shell today announced today that it will forgo its plans to drill for oil and gas in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas in 2013 so it can be more prepared to drill in the future. The decision by Shell comes on the heels of the company’s 2012 drilling season in Alaska, which was fraught with challenges, including the near-grounding of one of its drill rigs, a fire later on the same rig, the failure of its oil spill containment dome, and, ultimately, the grounding of a drilling rig on a pristine, wildlife-rich island in Alaska in late December.

Shell Oil Company has been granted permission by the U.S. government to begin preparatory drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea. Layla Hughes, WWF’s expert on oil and gas development, shares her concerns and what WWF is doing to address them.

We hit the trifecta. After an 18-hour boat ride through the wild waters of the Pacific, we reached Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The water was still. The sky was solid blue. We were told by our guides that dozens of gray whales, each just a few weeks old, were in this part of the bay and at the stage of their life when they wanted to do what all children want to do: play. It was the perfect set-up for whale watching.