World Wide Fund for Nature
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| World Wide Fund for Nature | |
 |
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| Founder | Julian Huxley[1][2] Max Nicholson Peter Scott Guy Mountfort |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable trust |
| Founded | September 11, 1961 Morges, Switzerland |
| Headquarters | Gland, Switzerland |
| Key people | Sir Julian Huxley Dr Claude Martin HE Chief Emeka Anyaoku |
| Area served | World wide |
| Focus | Environmentalism |
| Method | Lobbying, research, consultancy |
| Revenue | $120,910,695 USD (2005)[3] |
| Volunteers | Approx. 4,500 worldwide |
| Website | wwf.org / panda.org |
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization for the conservation, research and restoration of the natural environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada.
The organisation supports a factual, science-based approach to environmental conservation.[citation needed] 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. The organisation runs more than 1,200 field projects worldwide in any given year.
They successfully sued World Wrestling Entertainment, known as World Wrestling Federation at the time, over their acronym, WWF.
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[edit] History
The organization was formed and registered as a charitable trust on 11 September 1961, in Morges, Switzerland, under the name World Wildlife Fund. It was an initiative of Julian Huxley and Max Nicholson, who had thirty years experience of linking progressive intellectuals with big business interests through the Political and Economic Planning think tank, with the businessman Victor Stolan, the naturalist Peter Scott and the advertising executive Guy Mountfort.
In its deed of foundation, the organization stated its original mission to be the "conservation of world fauna, flora, forests, landscape, water, soils and other natural resources by the acquisition and management of land, research and investigation, education at all levels, information and publicity, coordination of efforts, cooperation with other interested parties and all other appropriate means."[4]
In the subsequent years, the organisation set up offices and operations around the world. The initial focus of its activities was the protection of endangered species. As more resources became available, its operations expanded into other areas such as the preservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of natural resources, and the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
In 1986, the organisation changed its name to World Wide Fund for Nature, retaining the WWF initials, to better reflect the scope of its activities. However, it continues to operate under the original name in the United States and Canada.[5]
| “ | We shan´t save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried. | ” |
[edit] Presidents
- HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1962 – 1976)
- John H Loudon (1976 – 1981)
- HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1981 – 1996)
- Syed Babar Ali (1996 – 1999)
- Ruud Lubbers (2000 – 2000)
- Hon. Sara Morrison (2000 – 2001)
- Chief Emeka Anyaoku (2001 – present)[6]
[edit] 1001 Club
In the early 1970s, Prince Bernhard and Prince Philip, together with a few associates, set up the 1001 Nature Trust, its purpose being to cover the administrative and fundraising aspects of the WWF, which would make the organization's existence independent from donations of the general public.
Around this trust the 1001 Club was built, and besides higher level WWF personnel worldwide,[citation needed] the two princes also recruited royalty from all over Europe, directors from oil, mining and shipping companies, directors from major banks in London, individuals connected to intelligence agencies, and even a number of questionable businessmen and politicians.[citation needed]
All of these men, 1001 in total, donated an initial fee of $10,000 dollars to the trust after which they were given lifetime membership in the club, which to this day organizes regular meetings and nature trips for its members. The initial membership fee has since been raised to $25,000.[citation needed]
The 1001 Club has not been given any attention in the international media[citation needed] and membership is seldom disclosed in official biographies of members.[citation needed]
[edit] Acronym dispute
In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued the World Wrestling Federation (now named World Wrestling Entertainment) for unfair trade practices. Both parties had shared the initials "WWF" since March 1979. The conservation organization claimed that the wrestling company had violated a 1994 agreement regarding international use of the WWF initials.[7][8]
On August 10, 2001, a British court ruled in favor of the Wildlife Fund. The World Wrestling Federation filed an appeal in October 2001. However, on May 5, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its Web address from wwf.com to wwe.com, and used an automatic editing override to replace every "WWF" reference on the existing site with "WWE", as a prelude to changing the company's name to "World Wrestling Entertainment." Its stock ticker also switched from WWF to WWE.
Abandonment of the acronym did not end the two organizations' legal conflict. Later in 2002, the Wildlife Fund petitioned the court for $360 million in damages, eventually leading to an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment won a limited decision which permitted them to continue marketing certain preexisting products with the abandoned WWF logo. However, the wrestling company was obliged to issue newly-branded merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the "WWE" initials. Additionally, the court order required the company to remove both spoken and visual references to "WWF" in its library of video footage (which spans several decades).
The abandoned "wwf.com" domain name was purchased by a third party and became a wrestling forum for a time; it is currently a repository of wrestling links. In November 2006, the World Wildlife Fund's attempt to secure the rights for the wwf.com domain was rejected by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
[edit] See also
- Global 200, ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation
- No One's Gonna Change Our World, a charity album released in 1969 for the benefit of the WWF
- World Conservation Award, created in conjunction with the WWF
[edit] References
- ^ WWF FAQ: Who were the founders of WWF?
- ^ WWF FAQ: Where and when was WWF founded?
- ^ Capital Research Center: WWF (English)
- ^ FAQ: What was the original motivation for WWF's founders?
- ^ a b WWF Finland - History of WWF International (English)
- ^ WWF Presidents of the Organization over its history
- ^ http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3_1038611
- ^ Text of the 1994 legal agreement with the World Wrestling Federation
[edit] External links
- Panda.org, WWF international Web site
