World Wide Fund for Nature

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World Wide Fund for Nature

Julian Huxley[1][2]
Max Nicholson
Founders
Peter Scott
Guy Mountfort

Type Charitable trust

September 11, 1961

Founded
Morges, Switzerland

Headquarters Gland, Switzerland

Key people HE Chief Emeka Anyaoku

Area served World wide

Focus Environmentalism

Method Lobbying, research, consultancy

Revenue €447 million (2008)[3]

Motto For a Living Planet

Website wwf.org/panda.org

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental

organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the
environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in
the United States and Canada. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization
with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting
around 1300 [4] conservation and environmental projects around the world. It is a charity, with
approximately 60% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals.
45% of the fund's income comes from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the
Netherlands.[3]

The group says its mission is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment".[5]
Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of
the world's biodiversity: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. Among other
issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.

WWF-India’s Work for Tiger

Tiger, India’s national animal evokes strong emotions. We revere it, worship it, love it, fear
it and at times, also hate it. Nevertheless, it is always around as a powerful icon of India’s
cultural and natural heritage. 

A rich history of conservation

For WWF-India, tiger conservation has always been an article of faith. Over the last 36 years,
WWF has engaged with various stakeholders, including local communities, the Forest
Department, other Government agencies, school children and civil society, trying to find a
common way forward to lend support to conservation of wild tigers.

WWF’s efforts to save the tiger in India started in the early 1970s and through its vital support
‘Project Tiger’ was launched in India in 1973. WWF-India’s Tiger Conservation Programme
(TCP) was launched in the early 1990s.
Early 70s to 2003: Focus on individual PAs
Till 2003 the TCP focused on individual PAs. Direct infrastructure support was provided to
Protected Areas (PAs) which included equipment, vehicles, clothing, patrol camps and the like.
Till date the need based and crucial support for tiger conservation has been given in 55 tiger
reserves / national parks / wildlife sanctuaries and forest divisions in buffer areas of tiger
reserves. Read more…

2004- Current: The landscape approach

In 2003-04, WWF-India initiated its field interventions for tiger conservation through a landscape
approach which is primarily geared to secure critical corridors needed for movement of tigers
between tiger reserves and other forests. WWF-India currently works for tiger conservation in the
following landscapes:

 Satpuda Maikal (SML) 

 Terai Arc (TAL) 
 Western Ghats-Nilgiris 
 Sunderbans 
 North Bank (NBL)
 Kaziranga Karbi Anglong (KKL)
Apart from the above, WWF-India works for the tiger in isolated parks like Ranthambore and
Simlipal.

Current goals and objectives to save the tiger:

WWF-India’s goal is to restore and maintain tiger habitats, protect the tiger and its prey base in
important tiger landscapes in India.

The objectives are to: 

 Protect, restore and manage corridors to ensure connectivity between tiger habitats while
ensuring that human-tiger conflicts are reduced. 
 Reduce pressures on tiger habitats by promoting alternative livelihoods for local
communities . 
 Create incentives for local communities as well as state and regional government and
opinion-makers to support tiger conservation. 
 Enhance capacities of the Forest Department to control poaching of tigers and prey
species. 
 Promote the political will as well as popular support within all sectors of society for tiger
conservation.

Emergency support to wildlife areas

Helping overcome exigencies at the field level in critical wildlife habitats, particularly the national
parks and wildlife sanctuaries, has been another important component of WWF-India’s work for
wildlife conservation.

From the first park to benefit from this fund – Kaziranga to Dudhwa that benefited in October
2009, this fund has helped a number of parks. Read more…
WWF-India is looking for individuals with exceptional resourcefulness and a commitment to work
in the conservation sector to lead some of our large-impact programmes.

To learn more, and to apply please use the links in the right hand box.

It is part of every staff member's terms of reference to contribute to WWF's mission. WWF's
mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in
which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

 conserving the world's biological diversity

 ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
 reducing of pollution and wasteful consumption.

It is also part of every staff member's terms of reference to embody WWF's values, which are:
Passionate and Optimistic, Challenging and Inspiring, Credible and Accountable,
Persevering and Delivering Results
Project Tiger
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Part of a series on

Wildlife of India

Biodiversity[show]

Protected areas[show]

Related topics[show]

Organizations[show]

Conservation[show]

v • d • e

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India in 1972 to protect the
Bengal Tigers. The project aims at tiger conservation in specially constituted tiger reserves
representative of various regions throughout India. It strives to maintain a viable population
of this conservation reliant species in their natural environment.

In 2008, there were more than 40 Project Tiger Tiger Reserves of India covering an area over
37,761 km². Project Tiger helped to increase the population of these tigers from 1,200 in the
1970s to 3,500 in 1990s. However, a 2008 census held by Government of India revealed that
the tiger population had dropped to 1,411. Since then the government has pledged US$153
million to further fund the project, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and
fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimize human-tiger interaction
Contents
[hide]

 1 History
 2 Present organization and aims
 3 Future plans
 4 External links

[edit] History

At the turn of the 19th century, one estimate of the tiger population in India placed the figure
at 45,000. The first ever all-India tiger census was conducted in 1972 which revealed the
existence of only 1827 tigers. The landmark report, Status of the Tigers, Co-predators, and
Prey in India, published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority estimates only 1411
adult tigers in existence in India (plus uncensused tigers in the Sundarbans)[1]. The project
was launched in 1973 in Corbett national park, and various tiger reserves were created in the
country based on a 'core-buffer' strategy. Management plans were drawn up for each tiger
reserve based on the principles outlined below: TS* Elimination of all forms of human
exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the
buffer zone.

 Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the eco-system by
human and other interferences so as to facilitate recovery of the eco-system to its natural
state.
 Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife.

Global organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), contributed much funding to
Project Tiger. Eventually, however, it was discovered that the project's field directors had
been manipulating tiger census numbers in order to encourage more donations. In fact, the
numbers were so exaggerated as to be biologically impossible in some cases over. In
addition, Project Tiger's efforts were damaged by poaching, as well as the Sariska debacle
and the latest Namdapha tragedy , both of which were reported extensively in the Indian
media.

The project to map all the forest reserves in India has not been completed yet, though the
Ministry of Environment and Forests had sanctioned ₨. 13 million for the same in March
2004.

[edit] Present organization and aims

The Project Tiger was meant to identify the limiting factors and to mitigate them by suitable
management. The damages done to the habitat were to be rectified so as to facilitate the
recovery of the ecosystem to the maximum possible extent. The overall administration of the
project is monitored by a Steering Committee.A 'Field Director' is appointed for each reserve,
who is assisted by the field and technical personnel. At the Centre, a full-fledged 'Director' of
the project coordinates the work for the country.

Wireless communication system' and 'outstation patrol camps' have been developed within
the tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably. Fire protection
engineering : Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measures.
Voluntary Village relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the core area.
Livestock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various
compensatory developmental works have improved the 'water regime' and the ground and
field level vegetation, thereby increasing the 'animal density'

[edit] Future plans

Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present scenario requires a widely
distributed 'Information Network', using state-of-the-art information and communication
technology. This becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of protection in
field formations to safeguard the impressive gains of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'.
The important elements in Wildlife protection and control are: Mapping/Plot
(graphics)plotting the relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk
factors, proximity to risk factors, 'sensitivity categorization', 'crime mapping' and immediate
action for apprehending the offenders based on effective networking and communication.
Space technology has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic phenomena
occurring anywhere on earth. Several Tiger Reserves are being linked with the Project Tiger
Directorate in the GIS domain for Wildlife Crime Risk Management. A 'Tiger Atlas of India'
and a 'Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System' for the country is being developed
using state-of-the-art technology. This involves:

 Mapping , data acquisition and GIS modeling

 Field data collection and validation
 Data Maintenance , Dissemination and Use

The following potential tiger habitats in the country are being covered:

 Shivalik-Terai Conservation Unit (Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal)

 North east Conservation Unit
 Sunderbans Conservation Unit
 Central Indian Conservation Unit
 Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit
 Western Ghat Conservation Unit

Satellite data is being used and classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000
scale, with digitized data relating to contour, villages, roads, drainage, administrative
boundaries and soil. The spatial layers would be attached with attribute data, viz. human
population, livestock population, meteorological data, agricultural information and field data
pertaining to wildlife, habitat for evolving regional protocols to monitor tiger and its habitat.

Future activities Conservation of tigers and their prey species faces challenges from the
need for income, lack of awareness, and lack of land use policy in landscapes having Tiger
Reserves. These landscapes should be viewed as a mosaic of different land use patterns, viz,
tiger conservation and preservation, forestry, sustainable use and development, besides socio-
economic growth.

Tiger habitats exist in environments of thousands of Indigenous peoples and indigenous

communities that depend on them. Therefore we cannot view these protected areas in
isolation from the surrounding socio-economic realities and developmental priorities of the
Government. This calls for a cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary approach.
Tigers now need a "preservationist" approach. Regional planning is important around Tiger
Reserves to foster ecological connectivity between protected areas through restorative inputs
with integrated landuse planning. The management plan of a Tiger Reserve, therefore, needs
to be integrated in larger regional management plans. [[==References==

1. ^ Y.V.Jhala, R.Gopal, Q.Qureshi (eds.), ed (2008). Status of the Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey
in India. TR 08/001. New Delhi: National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India. pp. pp-
151. http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/status_of_tigers_in_india_2008.pdf.