Environmental stories and features from WWF
14 May 2008
Once upon a time in Hunza Valley
By Shafiullah Khan.
I am a resident of Hunza Valley, situated in the north of Pakistan. A few days ago, I was thinking about the changes that had occurred in my valley since I was a child. I was quite shocked to know that while we enjoy modern facilities today, we have lost many things which were part of the natural environment of these areas and are now irreversibly lost. I would like to share the changes I have observed in three decades in Hunza Valley and the Karakoram areas where I was raised.
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17 Apr 2008
A tale of two places – restoring rhinos to their ranges in Assam, India
The glory of Manas was damaged by a violent local agitation that began in 1989 to carve out a separate Bodo homeland within the Indian federation. An armed struggle caused massive upheaval and destruction of the Park’s infrastructure, including destruction of anti-poaching camps, roads and bridges and killing of forest staff.
As of April 2008, the rhinos are back and there is a strong economic incentive for local communities, including the local ethnic community of the Bodos, to make sure the rhinos thrive. “When tourists come, they want to see animals – it will be helpful to have the rhinos,” adds Dhan Chandra Doley, a local forest guard. » Read more
17 Apr 2008
Hot, dirty and rewarding – moving rhinos in Assam
"The tranquilizing team changed tactics. They now started stalking the rhino on foot, using the elephants as cover. In the next half hour that ensued, the first rhino, a male, was tranquilized. After fifteen minutes of tracking, the rhino grew sluggish and his hind legs started sinking. A vet then approached this animal and gave him a second shot of tranquilizer. But as soon as the dart hit him, the animal was up on his feet and running again!" » Read more
20 Mar 2008
Chance sighting gets Fiji its first satellite tagged turtle
By Jone Niukula and Sanivalati Navuku*
Fiji researchers have been attempting for more than two years to satellite tag a turtle, a key ingredient in finding out migration patterns around the vast waters and multiple island groups of the Pacific.
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13 Mar 2008
Will a young tigress make it into the wild?
Russian environmentalists are trying hard to rehabilitate a rescued tiger cub so as to bring her back to her natural habitat the Ussuryskaya taiga.
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06 Mar 2008
Elephant flying squad celebrates new members
By Syamsidar Syamsidar
Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra – Communities on the fringes of Sumatra’s Tesso Nilo National park mixed tradition and conservation on March 1, with a party to name and welcome the newest members of the WWF’s Elephant Flying Squad.
In Riau Province, the flying squad are four adult elephants and eight mahouts patrolling an area along the National Park boundaries, keeping wild elephants away from local communities and teaching villagers non-lethal ways to protect their crops.
16 Feb 2008
WWF Climate Savers Tokyo Summit, February 2008 - “Not a business-as-usual conference”
By Tony Hare
It was Sony CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, who best set the tone at the WWF Climate Savers Tokyo Summit in February, saying it was not “a business-as-usual conference”.
It wasn’t business as usual – it was business as innovator; business as visionary; business as Climate Saver.
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30 Jan 2008
Cambodian conservation work – not just a man’s world
By Porny You
Women are working as hard and sweating as much as the men in WWF conservation programs in remote areas of Cambodia.
In WWF-Cambodia’s Srepok Wilderness Area Project (SWAP), in the country’s eastern plains, Khmer, foreign and local indigenous Phnong women play a vital role in preserving the Mondulkiri Protected Forest (MPF). » Read more
11 Oct 2007
One Planet Wales
As political and business leaders grapple to find ways of developing policies and products that help consumers lead more sustainable lifestyles, a new WWF campaign in Wales could help transform the local economy through greatly increasing the efficiency of energy and resource use. » Read more
25 Sep 2007
Music for a living Danube
From Germany’s Black Forest to the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine, WWF and an Austrian musician journey down one of Europe’s longest rivers, raising awareness along the way about threats to its survival. » Read more
