I wrote about Peta recently because I’d learnt to pretty much hate them. However after doing some research I realised that although I don’t agree with everything they do, they certainly aren’t as bad as I’d been lead to believe. Conversely other wildlife charities that I’ve supported in the past aren’t as good as I thought they were. One prime example of a wildlife charity that isn’t what it seems is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Who are the World Wildlife Fund?
The WWF was founded in 1961 by Prince Philip and Prince Bernhart of the Netherlands.
What they say about themselves
“As the world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in more than 100 countries. At every level, we collaborate with people around the world to develop and deliver innovative solutions that protect communities, wildlife, and the places in which they live.
WWF works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon; transform markets and policies toward sustainability; and protect and restore species and their habitats. Our efforts ensure that the value of nature is reflected in decision-making from a local to a global scale.”
Their mission:
“Our mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.”
What the World Wildlife Fund does well
Their campaigns get a fair bit of publicity and they’re very good at making people aware of endangered species that need our help.
WWF Controversies
It seems the World Wildlife Fund has been involved in a number of controversies. It certainly doesn’t bode well for a wildlife conservation charity that one of its founders (Prince Phillip) admitted to killing a tiger in India before the charity began.
Many of the below claims are alleged dodgy practises, however my feeling is there is rarely smoke without fire.
Claims
- The WWF receives large donations from corporations seeking to ‘greenwash’ their businesses. This is linked to the ‘1001 club’.
- They funded guards who killed, sexually assaulted, beat and tortured scores of people.
- The WWF supports trophy hunting.
The 1001 Club
The claim here is that the WWF is funded by ‘elites’. These are a group of 1001 people who influence strategic decisions made by the charity.
“The WWF (…) runs an elite club of 1,001 of the richest people in the world, whose names are not revealed. Industrialists, philanthropists and ultra-conservative, upper-class naturalists, they are said to make up an “old boys’ network with influence in the corridors of global and corporate and policy-making power.
Names of the members that have slipped out over the years include Baron von Thyssen, Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli, and Henry Ford, as well as corrupt politicians such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, the former president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Samaranch, and beer baron Alfred Heineken.
“The ‘1001 club’ is still important for the WWF, even though it’s not a secret central committee. I hate conspiracy theories, but I’m convinced that the discreet ‘1001 club’ still influences the strategic decisions of the WWF, because many of its members are important players in global and powerful financial and industrial corporations that rule the planet,” – The Guardian – 2014
In response to this claim a WWF spokesman stated; “WWF still has the ‘1001 club’, as one of a number of vehicles for donations to WWF International”.
Guards killed and tortured people
“Human rights specialists will lead an independent review of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) conservation charity, following allegations of abuse in six countries, published by BuzzFeed news on Monday.
The charity is accused of supporting anti-poaching units that attacked, sexually assaulted, shot and killed villagers. It is also accused of providing paramilitary forces with salaries, training and supplies – including knives, night vision goggles, riot gear and batons – and funding raids on villages.
WWF operated like a “global spymaster”, organising, financing and running networks of “informants”, to provide park authorities with intelligence, while publicly denying working with informants, Buzzfeed reported. The investigation will also look at claims WWF embroiled itself in a botched arms deal, in the Central African Republic, to buy assault rifles from an army that paraded severed heads of criminals though the streets.” – The Guardian – 2019
The WWF’s response to this claim was; “At the heart of WWF’s work are places and the people who live in them. Respect for human rights is at the core of our mission.
We take any allegation seriously and are commissioning an independent review to look into the cases raised in the story. We have asked BuzzFeed to share all evidence it has obtained to support these claims, to help inform and strengthen this review.”
The WWF supports trophy hunting
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“In a new book, ex-campaign staffer for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) claims that the organisation he used to work for as well as other conservation agencies such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) offers help for the trophy hunting industry. Titled Trophy Hunters Exposed – Inside the Big Game Industry, Eduardo Gonçalves also details the disturbing ties between politicians and trophy hunting.” – Green Queen – 2020
I haven’t yet found a response from the WWF about these claims, however there are many people who do defend trophy hunting citing conservation as the reason.
Should you still support the World Wildlife Fund?
This is difficult. Personally I can’t bring myself to give money to any charity that believes trophy hunting is a good idea. I won’t support the WWF any more. I’m now on the lookout for a wildlife charity that better aligns with my own values. But, the charity does do some invaluable work helping other endangered species.
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WWF also has issued coins in gold, silver and copper that can be bought, which means a support for mining and this should be avoided.