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World Wide Fund for Nature

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WWF
Company typeCharity
IndustryEnvironmentalism
FoundedSeptember 11 1961, Morges, Switzerland
HeadquartersAv. du Mont-Blanc 1196 Gland, Switzerland
Key peopleSir Julian Huxley
Dr Claude Martin
HE Chief Emeka Anyaoku
ProductsLobbying, research, consultancy.
Revenue$120,910,695 USD (2005)
Number of employeesapprox. 4,500 (worldwide)
Websitewww.panda.org
For other uses of "WWF", see WWF.

WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly the "World Wildlife Fund", which is still used by WWF-US and WWF-Canada) is a global environment conservation, research, environmental advocacy and restoration organization. WWF is dedicated to stopping the degradation of the planet's natural environment, and building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

Currently WWF works on the conservation of three biomes: Forests, Freshwater Ecosystems, and Oceans and Coasts. These conservation works contain the bulk of the world's biodiversity, and provide the environmental goods and services upon which all life ultimately depends.

WWF promotes a factual, science-based approach to conservation, which focuses on six priority issues of global concern: forests, oceans and coasts, fresh water, endangered species, and the insidious threats of toxic chemicals and climate change. For each of these issues, WWF has developed measurable targets, and runs more than 1,200 field projects around the world in any given year.

Founding

  • 11 September 1961, Morges, Switzerland, under the name World Wildlife Fund.
  • In 1986, WWF realized that its old name no longer reflected the scope of its activities. The name was changed into World Wide Fund for Nature, retaining the WWF initials. The United States and Canada, however, retained the full old name, World Wildlife Fund for Animals.

We shan´t save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried.

— Sir Peter Scott, one of the founders of WWF

Presidents

File:WWF logos.jpg
WWF logos 1961-2000.

International directors

WWF Services
  • James P Leape – Director General
  • Paul Steele – Chief Operating Officer
  • Thomas Schultz-Jagow – Communications
  • Dr Timothy Geer – Government & Aid Agency Coordination
  • Chiew Chong – Finance & Administration
International Conservation Programme
  • Dr Guillermo Castilleja – Programme Director
  • Dr Sheila O'Connor – Programme Audits
Regional Programmes
  • Dr Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu – Africa/Madagascar
  • Dr Isabelle Louis – Asia/Pacific
  • Dr Magnus Sylvén – Europe/Middle East
  • Dr Georg Schwede – Eastern Europe/Central Asia
  • Dr Meg Symington – Latin America/Caribbean
Policy
  • Gordon Shepherd – International Policy
Global Issues
  • Hans Verolme – Climate Change Programme
  • Duncan Pollard – Forests for Life Programme
  • Jamie Pittock – Freshwater Programme
  • Dr Simon Cripps – Oceans & Coasts Programme
  • Dr Sue Lieberman – Species Programme
Legal Advisor
  • Michael R. Rogers, Barrister

Acronym dispute

In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) for unfair trade practices. Both companies shared the acronym WWF. The environmental organization claimed that the wrestling company had violated a 1994 agreement regarding use of the WWF initials.

On August 10 2001, a British court ruled in favor of the World Wildlife Fund. The World Wrestling Federation filed an appeal in October 2001, but in early May 2002, they began quietly changing all references to "WWF" on their website with "WWE", and relocated the website from wwf.com to wwe.com. On May 6, the company issued a press release stating the official name change of the company to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

However, abandonment of the acronym did not conclude the two organizations' legal wrangling. Later in 2002, the Wildlife Fund petitioned for $360 million in damages. The wrestling group made a counteroffer, leading to an undisclosed settlement. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment won a limited decision which permitted them to continue marketing certain preexisting products with the abandoned WWF logo. In general, though, the wrestling company was obliged to issue newly-branded merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the "WWE" acronym. For example, the wrestling company has invested time and expense blocking out references to the "WWF" on its decades-long backlog of video footage.

See also

References

  1. Capital Research Center: WWF (English)
  2. ^ WWF Finland - History of WWF International (English)

External links

Categories: