Author: World Wildlife Fund Stories

Photography is a powerful tool for showing the beauty and value of wildlife and wild places—and challenges us to protect them. Take a look at just a few of WWF’s favorite photographs from 2018.

Soil is a living, breathing ecosystem that’s home to a quarter of all species on Earth. It’s richness of life is what supports forests and prairies; biodiversity in the soil also enhances agriculture. Yet agriculture, which needs soil, is the leading cause of its erosion. Indeed, healthy soil is disappearing from the surface of the earth at a rate of about 24 billion tons a year. Here are some examples of the types of living creatures in soil that make it such a vibrant, vital habitat.

Last month, the Indonesian Government announced that a first Sumatran rhino, a female named Pahu, was successfully rescued from a small isolated forest patch in Kalimantan, with the support of WWF, local partners and Sumatran Rhino Rescue.

Local communities and indigenous people are crucial stewards of the natural places WWF works to conserve. The handicrafts are a small thank you for your support of World Wildlife Fund and all its programs.

Around the world, humans produce an estimated 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste, a number that is set to increase to 2.2 billion by 2025. In countries such as Ecuador that have limited garbage collection services, some of this plastic waste inevitably ends up back in the oceans or on beaches, where it has the potential to harm and human health.

In 2015, nearly 200 countries signed a historic agreement in Paris that established the world’s first truly global plan to tackle climate change. Now, three years later, there’s still a significant gap between current country emissions reductions pledges and what’s needed to limit global temperature rise. In response, leaders from businesses, local governments, higher education, and communities are coming together to establish domestic coalitions in support of climate action. 

At the Frankfurt Zoological Society’s Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, orangutans are rehabilitated and released back into the wild. Rescued orangutans learn how to feed and fend for themselves in the lowland rainforests of central Sumatra—skills they never had the chance to pick up from their mothers.

In Mozambique’s Primeiras e Segundas region, villagers are taking part in a savings and loan association that’s revolutionizing how they manage their financial and natural resources.

Throughout the Arctic, melting sea ice is causing Pacific walruses to “haul out” on land in massive groups. To minimize deadly disturbances and minimize human-polar bear conflict, WWF is establishing artificial feeding spots on polar bear routes along the coast of Russia’s Chukchi Sea.  

It’s one of the easiest things you can do to help save the world’s forests. Look for the label that says FSC when you buy paper towels, tissues, furniture or any other products that come from forests.