History
WWF was founded on 11 September 1961 in the small picturesque Swiss town of Morges with the basic aim of preserving life on earth. Formed by a unique partnership of business leaders, scientists and government leaders - and with the support and guidance of HRH Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - WWF has grown over 40 years to become the largest and most influential independent global conservation organisation in the world.
WWF has close to five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries.
WWF-Australia
The Australian office of WWF was established on 29 June 1978. With a staff of three working out of an old factory in Sydney and a conservation budget of around $80,000 for our first year, some of WWF-Australia's earliest projects included research to save endangered species like the bilby, as well as forest and plant conservation.
Today we have grown to become the largest conservation organisation in Australia, with more than 80,000 supporters and active projects throughout Australia and the Oceania region.
What are some of WWF-Australia's major achievements in conservation?
In the past 12 months, some of WWF-Australia's major achievements include:
- Securing the Australian Government election commitment of $40 million to combat weeds, and the ban of over 3300 known overseas weeds from import in June 2005. Invasive weeds remain the second greatest threat to species in Australia after land clearing and cost our farmers $4 billion annually.
- Achieving Australian Government commitment to the protection of the Tarkine wilderness area in Tasmania. Logging is now banned in the area, and 193,000 hectares have been added to the reserve system.
- Securing an increase in sanctuary zones along WA's Ningaloo Reef from 10% to 34%, and a state government commitment to spend $5 million over the next four years on marine research at the reef. This makes Ningaloo one of the world's best protected coral reefs.
- Playing a pivotal role - through the WWF-convened Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists - in the creation of a National Water Commission, which is charged with creating sustainable water use throughout Australia.
- Convincing the WA Government not to renew an agreement to develop a large-scale genetically modified cotton industry in the Kimberley ecoregion. The proposal would have led to the clearing of 200,000 hectares of native vegetation and the extraction of 30% of surplus flows from the Fitzroy river, one of WA's last remaining 'wild rivers'.
