News on World Wide Fund for Nature

Gourmet diners 'may spell extinction' for sea turtle

2010-03-10T05:16:25Z

<div><p>Malaysians' voracious appetite for turtle eggs could drive the marine creatures to extinction on its shores, conservationists warned on Wednesday.</p><p>According to a report by environmental group WWF-Malaysia, hundreds of thousands of turtle eggs are eaten in Malaysia every year, despite campaigns to get them off the menu.</p>...

Malaysian turtles face extinction: WWF

2010-03-10T00:17:47Z

<div><p>Conservationists warned Wednesday that Malaysians' voracious appetite for turtle eggs could drive the marine creatures to extinction on its shores.</p><p>Turtle eggs are sold openly in markets in parts of Malaysia. Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay eggs on Malaysian beaches, but are now increasingly rare due to poaching and coastal development.</p><p>Environmental group WWF released a report ...

World cops target traditional healers over smuggled wildlife

2010-03-05T11:21:28Z

<div><p>Police seized tiger bones, anteater scales and bear gall bladders in an international operation against the use of endangered plants and animals in traditional medicine, officers said Friday.</p><p>Illegal animal and plant products with a retail value of 10 million euros (13.6 million dollars) were seized in a month-long drive carried out by forces around the world, the global law enforcement agency Interpol said.<...

Something fishy? Eco-guide lists seafood to avoid

2010-02-24T22:45:07Z

<div><p>SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Love your seafood as much as the environment? A new guide to sustainable fish stocks in the Asia Pacific aims to help diners in Singapore enjoy their meals without harming one of the world's major marine ecosystems.</p><p>Singapore is one of the biggest seafood consumers in the Asia ...

WWF welcomes new protected areas in Ukraine

2010-02-24T07:16:37Z

<div><p>Environmental group WWF on Wednesday welcomed Ukraine's decision to designate large swathes of land as protected, but warned that key areas, such as the Danube delta, were still under threat.</p><p>Over the past 10 months, the Ukrainian government has established 29 new protected areas, bringing the total number of protected nature zone...

Indochinese tigers on brink of extinction: WWF

2010-02-22T14:38:36Z

<div><p>BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tigers in the Greater Mekong region are facing extinction, their numbers down more than 70 percent in slightly more than a decade due to poachers and habitat destruction, conservationists say.</p><p>A new report by wildlife group Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.</p><p>The wild tiger population across Cambodia, <...

Mekong tiger population plunges to 'crisis point': WWF

2010-02-22T15:02:33Z

<div><p>Governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.</p><p>The wild tiger population across Cambodia, <...

WWF fears for Siberian tiger after Russian oil leak

2010-02-22T16:23:14Z

<div><p>A leak from Russia's new Siberian oil pipeline shows the potentially damaging consequences the project could have for the endangered Siberian tiger, an environmental campaign group warned on Friday.</p><p>Around 300 cubic metres (10,600 cubic feet) of oil leaked from the pipeline in eastern Siberia, World Wildlife Fund warned on Tuesday that the wild tiger faced extinction in China after having been decimated by poaching and the destruction of its natural habitat.</p><p>"If there are no urgent measures taken, there is a high risk that the wild tiger will go extinct," World Wildlife Fund said on Thursday it planned to spend 40 million yuan (5.9 million dollars) over the next three years to increase the number of giant panda reserves in China.</p><p>The environmental group also plans to build "wildlife corridors" between the 60-plus reserves to enable the pandas to move...

Sumatran tiger cubs caught on video in Indonesia

2010-02-23T00:06:16Z

<div id="subtitle">Camera trap captures first known video of Sumatran tiger cubs in Indonesian jungle</div><div><p>A video camera in the jungles of Indonesia has captured the first known footage of Sumatran tiger cubs in the wild, boosting efforts to conserve the endangered species, an environmental group said Thursday.</p><p>The video shot in October on the islan...

Germany Climate Protest

2009-12-17T02:00:21Z

Paper hands with written messages fixed by the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) are seen during a protest in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009. The WWF demand a climate agreement at the climate summit in Copenhagen. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ecosia search engine fights climate change

2010-02-23T20:40:46Z

<div><p>An Ecosia search engine launching Monday is counting on the world's fascination with the Internet to help save Brazilian rainforests and battle global warming.</p><p>A brain child of "green-minded friends" in Berlin, ecosia.org is powered by Bing and Yahoo! search techn...

Stabilised Bhutan lake a climate change lesson: WWF

2010-02-23T22:25:14Z

<div><p>An international project that prevented a glacial lake in Bhutan from bursting its banks underlined how climate change can be tackled by adaptation, the environmental group WWF said on Tuesday.</p><p>The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said efforts by local and international agencies earlier this year redu...

Putin's rare Siberian tiger goes missing

2010-02-24T00:46:16Z

<div id="subtitle">Putin's Siberian tiger disappears, possibly due to tracking device failure or poachers</div><div><p>A rare Siberian tiger that Vladimir Putin fitted with a radio-tracking collar is alive and well, the Russian prime minister's spokesman said Wednesday, easing concerns raised when an environmentalist said the tracking device had gone silent.</p>&l...

Melting icecaps to damage major port cities: WWF

2010-02-24T01:52:12Z

<div><p>Flooding in the world's major port cities caused by melting icecaps could cause up to 28 trillion dollars (18 trillion euros) in damage in 2050, environmental group WWF said in a report Monday.</p><p>"If the temperature rises between 0.5 and 2 degrees (Celsius) between now and 2050, it's possible that the sea level would progress by half a metre (nea...

Major Asian cities face climate disaster: WWF

2010-02-24T06:35:25Z

<div><p>Low-lying and impoverished Asian coastal cities such as Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta are vulnerable to "brutal" damage from climate change without global action, environmental group WWF warned Thursday.</p><p>Energy consump...

Australian oil spill recovery plan could take 7 years

2010-02-24T10:11:21Z

<div><p>Monitoring the clean-up of a huge oil spill in pristine Australian waters could take as long as seven years, an official said Wednesday as environmentalists urged a wide-ranging inquiry into the disaster.</p><p>As many as 28,000 barrels of oil have gushed into the Timor Sea off Western Australia's northern coast in the...

Spain UN Climate Talks

2009-11-03T07:01:06Z

Spain's Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Elena Espinosa, right, with a fake vote card in foreground, as she attends the performance of World Wildlife Fund for nature (WWF) "Vote for Earth", in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. Barcelona is to host the...