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Walking down that familiar street in a remote
village near Chennai, 35-year-old Ramesh, who had just returned home
from abroad, was full of thoughts about his childhood days. The
village that used to be lush green now lay barren brown.
The fields had dried up leaving yellow patches of
grass standing scantily on the parched ground. There was no more
that sweet melody of the rare blue jays chirruping early in the
morning, but the cruel crow of the wild, white necked vulture,
waiting upon the dead branch of a peculiar tree (that he never found
what it was to date), to prey upon anything that died of thirst.
No one lived in that village any more. All had
moved - elders, children, cattle, birds, animals…all. Ramesh was
wondering… What had brought such an unkind fate to his lovely
village? What had made the people move? What happened to that
meandering stream with sparkling water that ran through the village?
The memories of swimming in the waters with friends and spending
hours in the evening watching those lucidly pretty fish were so
vivid and fresh in his mind! He picked up a fish bone from the dry
loose sands - it was coated with something… something that glinted
colourfully in the scorching sunlight….
News about the environment is dismal these days.
Air pollution is threatening the survival of plants and animals and
the welfare of people around the world. Pesticides and chemical
fertilisers meant to aid humans have turned strong against him.
Millions of acres of forests have been burnt in
the last three decades, costing a huge number of lives and a
tremendous amount of money. By the year 2025, up to two-thirds of
the world's population is predicted to experience water shortages.
And every day, loss of habitat, illegal trade, over-hunting and
economic development destroy wildlife to a great extent.
Is there anyone doing anything to address these
issues and save us from a global disaster? Being responsible for our
own destruction, is anyone even attempting to prevent such
large-scale massacre? Is anyone paying heed to the present-day
requirements? Who is trying to save mankind from the miseries it has
brought unto itself?
There is an organisation that worries about these
questions: The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (known as WWF), which
safeguards nature and ecological processes. Its mission is "to stop
the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a
future in which humans live in harmony with nature”.
Through policy work, advocacy, grassroots action,
education and capacity building, WWF acts to:
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conserve the world's biological diversity
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ensure that the use of renewable natural
resources is sustainable
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promote the reduction of pollution and
wasteful consumption
History
WWF was started after a trip was made in 1960 by
the renowned British biologist and first general director of UNESCO,
Sir Julian Huxley, to East Africa to report on wildlife conservation
in the area. Huxley was not pleased with what he observed and warned
that much of the region's wildlife could disappear within the next
20 years.
In response to his admonition, early the next
year, a group of committed experts gathered to establish an
organisation that would support conservation efforts. The group
decided to base its operations in Switzerland. At the same time, a
panda named Chi-Chi was a widely popular attraction at the London
Zoo. The group decided that a panda would make a superb logo for the
new organisation.
And so, in September of 1961, the World Wildlife
Fund was officially formed. In its first three years, WWF raised and
donated almost $ 1.9 million to conservation projects. Its first
grants went to the International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources, the International Council for Bird
Preservation (now Birdlife International), the International
Waterfowl Research Bureau, and the International Youth Federation
for the Study and Conservation of Nature. Other early substantial
donations went to the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos
Islands and Kenya's Masai Mara Game Reserve.
WWF - India
WWF - India is engaged in a multitude of activities for protection
and conservation of the environment in the Indian context. Climate
change and energy conservation are among the chief areas of concern
for the organisation. The Forest and Biodiversity Conservation
Division strives to promote and enhance conservation of forest
ecosystems in the country through a participatory approach involving
key stakeholders. Through its Environment Education Programme, it
aims at strengthening individual and institutional capacity in
nature conservation and environmental protection through widespread
education and awareness.
Intimately involved in the conservation of tigers
in India since the late 1960s, WWF’s significant efforts culminated
in the launch of Project Tiger in 1973. It seeks to conserve and
protect the biodiversity of maritime life and resources by
sensitising people. The pollution of the river waters and the
imminent threat to aquatic life is a cause for great concern. WWF -
India has stepped in on a number of occasions to launch campaigns
for securing their habitat, like ‘Save the River Dolphin’ project.
WWF believes that if you secure an animal’s habitat, you secure its
right to live.
What WWF does
Throughout its 46 years of existence, WWF has contributed
significantly to the development and impact of the world
conservation movement and to sustainable development.
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Project Tiger: Launched in 1973, WWF
set up a task force with Indira Gandhi to put aside land for
nine tiger reserves in India. India later added six more
reserves, while Nepal followed suit with three, and Bangladesh
with one. Today, there are 23 tiger reserves in India spread
over an area of about 33,000 square kilometres (12,700 square
miles). Outside of India, WWF is working to protect Sumatran
tigers in Indonesia, Indo-Chinese tigers in Malaysia, Bengal
tigers in Nepal, and Siberian tigers in Russia.
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Tropical Rainforest Campaign: WWF
raised money and arranged for several dozen representative
tropical rainforest areas in Central and West Africa, South-East
Asia, and Latin America to be managed as national parks or
reserves. A second tropical forest campaign was launched in 1982
at the opening of the national parks congress in Bali
(Indonesia), which mobilised roughly $ 2.5 million for projects
in 11 countries. Forest conservation has been taken seriously as
a major habitat issue ever since.
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The Seas Must Live - Launched in 1976,
WWF set up marine sanctuaries for whales, dolphins and seals,
and to protect marine turtle nesting sites. Currently, WWF is
working around the world to save our seas and marine life by
building up political will to end chronic over-fishing, reducing
the use of destructive fishing methods, rebuilding devastated
fisheries, and improving resource management.
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Save the Rhino - Launched in 1979, WWF
raised over $ 1 million to combat rhino poaching. Thanks to the
efforts of WWF, the number of rhinoceroses in Kaziranga National
Park, India, rose from 400 in 1966 to 1,300 in 1995; in Chitwan
Park, Nepal, from 60 in the late 1960s to 600 today; and in
southern Africa, from 20 at the turn of the last century to
nearly 8,000 today.
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World Conservation Strategy - In 1980,
WWF published a recommended set of strategies that suggest
taking a holistic approach and highlight the importance of using
natural resources in a sustainable fashion. The strategy defined
the three chief goals of conservation: maintenance of essential
ecological processes and life support systems; preservation of
genetic diversity; and sustainable use of species and
ecosystems. Since the launch, 50 countries have formulated and
initiated their own conservation strategies based on WWF's
recommendations.
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In 1992, WWF took part in pressuring
governments to sign conventions on biodiversity and climate
change at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The scenario today
Today, WWF focuses its efforts on six global issues. They fall into
three categories:
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Three Biomes - WWF is working to conserve
forests, freshwater ecosystems and oceans and coasts, which
contain the bulk of the world's biodiversity and provide the
environmental goods and services upon which all life ultimately
depends.
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The Question of Species - WWF has identified
a small number of flagship species whose conservation is of
special concern.
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Two Global Threats - WWF is working to
address consequences resulting from the spread of toxic
chemicals and the phenomenon of climate change.
For each of the six global issues, WWF has
established a ‘Target Driven Programme’ (TDP for short) that
identifies actions needed to be taken by WWF to achieve its mission.
TDPs recommend such strategies as the formation of partnerships,
involvement in politics, or campaigning for the public.
So what is the WWF up to these days? How are they
combating the environmental problems? The WWF is actively attempting
to:
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Create relationships between producers and
buyers
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Improve national forest governance
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Fight illegal logging
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Implement forest management tools because it
Improves the image of the companies with
buyers;
Improves the technical quality of
forestry operations;
Provides the magnification of potential
access to public forest areas (forest concessions) and
Reduces the cost of transactions in the
analysis and approval of management plans
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Reduce slash and burn activities
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Reduce the impact of agriculture
WWF is also:
Promoting the rotation of cattle-ranching and no-till
agriculture to mitigate deforestation
Improving the traceability of products
Pushing for good environmental agriculture practices
Going back to our hero Ramesh, he decided that no other
place shall face such a tragic death; he decided to do
something to save the environment, make the world a better
place to live in. He decided to be an active member of the
WWF.
Padma Venkatraman
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