History of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

In just over four decades, WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund) has become one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations.

With almost five million supporters distributed throughout five continents, WWF has a global network active in over 90 countries and can safely claim to have played a major role in the evolution of the international conservation movement.

Since 1985, WWF has invested over US$1,165 million in more than 11,000 projects in 130 countries. All these play a part in the campaign to stop the accelerating degradation of Earth’s natural environment, and to help its human inhabitants live in greater harmony with nature.

This section explains how the organization grew from being a small group of committed wildlife enthusiasts into a global network, supported by people from all walks of life, who, like WWF, care about the welfare of our planet. © 2006 WWF