A new report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says that biotechnology is one possible solution to our climate change and our economic problems.
It could have a dramatic effect on CO2 emissions, and it could also be part of the new green economy. How much can it help? The report says it can reduce global emissions by as much as some leading countries emit in a year.
What is biotechnology? How can it cool our climate and give a boost to our economy? Is it an appropriate and safe solution to these problems?
Croatia and Hungary signed an agreement yesterday to protect a major biodiversity area that crosses borders along three rivers. The agreement is being called a “Trans-Boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve” and has resulted in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) awarding the two countries with a “Leaders for a Living Planet” award.
The reserve will preserve several endangered species, among other environmental jewels. There is also the possibility of the reserve expanding several times over into neighboring countries in the future.
Nine black rhino from Zululand game reserves are being airlifted to a new home as part of a range expansion project for the critically endangered species.
In an effort to ensure the survival of critically endangered black rhino, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) are partnering on a project designed to establish founder populations of black rhino throughout KwaZulu Natal and other parts of Africa.
A new study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), released today, says that the effects of warming in the Arctic are “dire… far worse than previous projections.” Dr Martin Sommerkorn, senior climate change advisor for WWF’s Arctic program (who works on this stuff everyday) says: “What they found was a truly sobering picture.”
In an uplifting and rare story from a very precious and endangered area of the world, we can see why those of us who are working for better environmental preservation should continue to work for good in all situations.
In a press release by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today, we can see that people in developed countries actually use several times more water than they “use” — the water used indirectly to create our products is several times more than the water we use ourselves. According to the WWF, “German households use 124 litres of water a day directly, individual Germans use 5288 litres of water a day when the water requirements of producing their food, clothes and other consumption items are included.”
An initiative to transport lone Borneo rhinos to a secure central location - where they can interact with other rhinos - could mean hope for this extremely rare subspecies.
Tabin Wildlife Reserve located in Sabah, Malaysia is the last home of the Bornean rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), a distinct subspecies of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis). It is estimated that fewer than 50 Bornean rhinos are still surviving in Sabah. Borneo rhinos are said to be even smaller than Sumatran rhinos, with some standing only three feet tall at the shoulder. Both species are covered with bristly hair that rubs down as they mature and create “tunnels” by crashing through the rainforest.
Sadly, some of these rhinos are living alone in fragmented pockets of forest, cut off from other rhino populations, where they have no hope of meeting another of their kind - and the isolation of these animals could lead to their extinction.
As China marches forward with aggressive infrastructure construction plans, years of panda conservation face major setbacks.
Despite the panda’s status as China’s signature animal, China’s desire for economic development may spell doom for this shy and gentle creature.
The panda’s already fractured habitat is being split up into even smaller pockets by construction of highways at nature reserves. According to People’s Daily Online, WWF China has reported several panda populations have already been forced into habitats just 1 kilometer wide.
Pandas limited to fragmented home ranges are unable to breed with other populations, severely impacting opportunities for genetic diversity within the species - and leading to extinction in the wild.
On the same day that a loophole in endangered species trade law was closed, officers from the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime and Chinatown Units raided a TCM shop.
The fragile ecosystems of the Eastern Himalayas have been proven to harbor incredible biological diversity in recent years — a diversity now threatened by global climate change, a new report finds.
A new report (pdf) by the WWF, The Eastern Himalayas: Where Worlds Collide, describes more than 350 new species discovered in the last decade including 244 plants, 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, 2 birds, 2 mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates. But all of the species discoveries made in the Eastern Himalayas in the last decade may be overshadowed by a rapidly changing climate.
“These exciting finds reinforce just how little we now about the world around us,” said Mark Wright, WWF’s conservation science advisor, adding that the Eastern Himalayas are a region of extraordinary beauty, with some of the most biologically rich areas on the planet.
The European Union got strongly admonished this month by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) after the release of a report that is more than a decade late and comes to disheartening conclusions. The EU is giving only 0.1% of its budget to nature protection, with drastic consequences. Due to the miniscule investment in protecting wildlife, more than half of European habitats and species are under threat of extinction.
