Accomplishments

1960s:

     In its first decade, WWF raiser over US$5.6 million – a huge amount of money in the 1960s.

     The money was distributed as grants to support 356 conservation related projects from wildlife surveys to anti-poaching efforts to education. Many of the animals and habitats supported became iconic conservation symbols, and continue to be a focus of WWF’s work.

For the first time, conservation was brought to the public arena.

1970s:


     Although WWF continued focused on species and habitats preservation throughout the 1970s, its approach changed.
     They began encouraging more comprehensive conservation projects to help entire biomes as well as species across their range, instead of supporting individual projects.


1980s:

     By its 20^th anniversary, WWF had already supported protected areas on five continents and contributed to save a number of species.

     This was very impressive but the organization realized it wasn’t enough. Now that they were starting to run their own projects, WWF began promoting their founders’ ideas: that conservation was in the interest of people and needed to be integrated into development, instead than viewed as in conflict with it.

1990s:

     In the 1990s people began to accept the global link between the environment, human activities and human welfare, as well as the importance of biodiversity and the emerging threat of climate change.

     These issues were incorporated in WWF’s 1990 Mission Statement and have framed the organization’s policy work since then. WWF developed a global conservation strategy that focused efforts on the world’s most critical ecoregions and in six key areas (species, forest, marine and freshwater conservation, climate change and toxic chemicals. WWF also began engage with business and other partners to promote sustainable resource management.

2000s:

     In the turn of the century, WWF increased its ambition, aiming for transformational changes that lead to lasting conservation, sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles.

     With the two goals of conserving biodiversity and reducing humanity’s ecological footprint, the organization is trying to create innovative partnerships that integrate conservation, policy and advocacy, and strategic private sector engagement. These efforts are particularly focused on globally important areas and species.