Environmental stories and features from WWF
28 Oct 2008
Marina Silva: philosophy in practice
Interview with Marina Silva, winner of the 2008 WWF Duke of Edinburgh Medal
Common people, in their majority, envisage philosophers as persons who have lost contact with the real world and live somewhere between heaven and earth, in some kind of ideal realm, far from the ungracefulness of every day life. Maybe they are like that, or at least partly so, since their occupation is to understand and explain the human soul and the meaning of things.
» Read more
20 Oct 2008
The J Paul Getty Award for Conservation
“I believe that wildlife conservation, the work of World Wildlife Fund, is one of the most constructive enterprises that any man or woman could be interested in today…I get satisfaction out of having done my duty as I see it. If this prize makes more people concerned about conservation and thus makes the world a better place to live in, then I will be satisfied. “
» Read more
07 Aug 2008
Saving Sumatra’s Endangered Peoples
The Orang Rimba people have inhabited the jungles of Sumatra for centuries, traveling in tight-knit family groups in the Indonesian forests, hunting, fishing and collecting non-timber forest products on their traditional lands. Members of this indigenous tribe occasionally trade goods with villages on the edge of the forest, but prefer to keep to themselves. Now, as Sumatra’s forests disappear under the relentless onslaught of chainsaws and bulldozers, even keeping to themselves is becoming impossible.
» Read more
05 Aug 2008
Long flight to photo award for Albatross
Like many fishers, Cameron Long is a man of few words. But luckily, his photos speak for him. His stunning winning shot of a solitary Salvin's albatross, navigating its flight a few well-judged inches from the ocean's surface, tip of one wing breaking the water, expresses the perfection of the albatross in a way words fail to.
» Read more
Long flight to photo award for Albatross
Like many fishers, Cameron Long is a man of few words. But luckily, his photos speak for him. His stunning winning shot of a solitary Salvin's albatross, navigating its flight a few well-judged inches from the ocean's surface, tip of one wing breaking the water, expresses the perfection of the albatross in a way words fail to.
» Read more
14 May 2008
Once upon a time in Hunza Valley
By Shafiullah Khan.
I am a resident of Hunza Valley, situated in the north of Pakistan. A few days ago, I was thinking about the changes that had occurred in my valley since I was a child. I was quite shocked to know that while we enjoy modern facilities today, we have lost many things which were part of the natural environment of these areas and are now irreversibly lost. I would like to share the changes I have observed in three decades in Hunza Valley and the Karakoram areas where I was raised.
» Read more
17 Apr 2008
A tale of two places – restoring rhinos to their ranges in Assam, India
The glory of Manas was damaged by a violent local agitation that began in 1989 to carve out a separate Bodo homeland within the Indian federation. An armed struggle caused massive upheaval and destruction of the Park’s infrastructure, including destruction of anti-poaching camps, roads and bridges and killing of forest staff.
As of April 2008, the rhinos are back and there is a strong economic incentive for local communities, including the local ethnic community of the Bodos, to make sure the rhinos thrive. “When tourists come, they want to see animals – it will be helpful to have the rhinos,” adds Dhan Chandra Doley, a local forest guard. » Read more
17 Apr 2008
Hot, dirty and rewarding – moving rhinos in Assam
"The tranquilizing team changed tactics. They now started stalking the rhino on foot, using the elephants as cover. In the next half hour that ensued, the first rhino, a male, was tranquilized. After fifteen minutes of tracking, the rhino grew sluggish and his hind legs started sinking. A vet then approached this animal and gave him a second shot of tranquilizer. But as soon as the dart hit him, the animal was up on his feet and running again!" » Read more
20 Mar 2008
Chance sighting gets Fiji its first satellite tagged turtle
By Jone Niukula and Sanivalati Navuku*
Fiji researchers have been attempting for more than two years to satellite tag a turtle, a key ingredient in finding out migration patterns around the vast waters and multiple island groups of the Pacific.
» Read more
13 Mar 2008
Will a young tigress make it into the wild?
Russian environmentalists are trying hard to rehabilitate a rescued tiger cub so as to bring her back to her natural habitat the Ussuryskaya taiga.
» Read more
06 Mar 2008
Elephant flying squad celebrates new members
By Syamsidar Syamsidar
Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra – Communities on the fringes of Sumatra’s Tesso Nilo National park mixed tradition and conservation on March 1, with a party to name and welcome the newest members of the WWF’s Elephant Flying Squad.
In Riau Province, the flying squad are four adult elephants and eight mahouts patrolling an area along the National Park boundaries, keeping wild elephants away from local communities and teaching villagers non-lethal ways to protect their crops.
