One of the most important people in the beginning of the WWF’s history was the British biologist, Sir Julian Huxley. He was the first director general of UNESCO and had also help found a scientific research-based conservation institution, now known as IUCN-The World Conservation Union.
In 1960, Julian Huxley went to East Africa to advise UNESCO on wildlife conservation in the area. He was very surprised by what he saw, so when he returned to London he wrote 3 articles for The Observer newspaper warning the British public that habitat was being destroyed and animals hunted at such a rate that much of the region’s wildlife could disappear within the following 20 years.
They alerted readers to the fact that nature conservation was a serious issue. Huxley received many letters from concerned members of the public; one of these was from a businessman called Victor Stolan, who pointed out the urgent need for an international organization to raise funds for conservation.
However Stolan said he wasn’t in a position to launch such an organization himself. Therefore Huxley contacted Max Nicholson (Director General of Britain’s Nature Conservancy) who accepted the challenge.
By spring 1961, Nicholson had already gathered together a group of scientists, advertising and public relations experts. One of these experts was Peter Scott (a vice-president of IUCN) who later became the new organization’s first president. The group decided to base its operations in Switzerland, in the small town of Morges (on the northern shores of Lake Geneva).
On the 29th April 1961 they produced the Morges Manifesto. The document signaled the very beginning of WWF as we know it today.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário