Topic: World Wildlife Fund for Nature

History
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), previously known as the World Wildlife
Fund, is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding
the conservation, research and restoration of the environment. Worldwide, it is the
largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters
worldwide, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects in
more than 100 countries. WWF is regarded as a foundation; in 2010, it derived 57%
of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as
the World Bank, DFID, USAID) and 11% from corporations.
WWF was conceived from an idea for a fund for endangered animals. In 1960, Julian
Huxley went to East Africa to advise UNESCO on wildlife conservation in the area
and was appalled at what he saw. On his return to London, he wrote 3 articles for
The Observer newspaper warning the British public that habitat was being destroyed
and animals hunted at such a rate that much of the region's wildlife could disappear
within the next 20 years. This alerted readers that nature conservation was a serious
issue. Huxley received a number of letters from concerned members of the public,
one of which from businessman Victor Stolan, who pointed out the urgent need for
an international organization to raise funds for conservation. Huxley therefore
contacted ornithologist Max Nicholson, Director General of Britain's Nature
Conservancy, who had had thirty years of experience in linking progressive
intellectuals with big business interests through the Political and Economic Planning
think tank. Nicholson took up the task with enthusiasm. By spring 1961, Nicholson
had gathered together a group of scientists, advertising and public relations experts,
who were committed in establishing an organization the kind Stolan suggested. On
the 29th April 196, they produced the Morges Manifesto - the founding document
which signaled the very beginning of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Nicholson was
the individual who thought up the name for the organization, whole Godfrey A.
Rockefeller assembled WWFs first staff.
The Morges Manifesto was signed in May 1961 which stated the belief of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN): that
the expertise to protect the world environment existed, but the financial support to
achieve the protection did not; this condition supported the development of a
nongovernmental organization to work to protect the world's environment. The
manifesto was signed by sixteen of the world's leading conservationists.
Another prominent ornithologist among the experts was Peter Scott, a vice-president
of IUCN, who later to become the new organization's first chairman. WWFs first
office was opened on 11 September that same year in Morges, where IUCN had
already transferred its headquarters to a villa on the northern shores of Lake
Geneva.