The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...
by Alice Ruhweza, Africa Regional Director
Africa has a long and special relationship with nature. But too often, we take that relationship for granted. Like any important relationship, it must be nurtured. However, conservation has all too often been elbowed aside by economic gain, infrastructural development, and the desire for modern-day conveniences. As we celebrate 60 years of WWF’s existence, it is time to reflect on that relationship and to reset it to restore balance and harmony.
Nature is everyone’s business, and to ensure that we capture the power of Africa’s voices, we must bring people together across sectors, cultures, and economics to address the critical challenges of inequality, gender, power dynamics, and corruption that may hamper conservation success.
Through our Africa Conservation Strategy, WWF identifies an inclusive, whole-of-society path to conservation success. In this African strategy, we place fundamental importance on an inclusive societal approach to achieving conservation success.
This is what we have achieved to this end, in the past 60 years.
For 60 years, WWF has been working across Africa. Here are our greatest successes.
We help fund a pioneering new college in Tanzania for protected areas management training; thousands of wildlife managers from around the world have since benefitted.
With rhino numbers under growing pressure, we support the East African Wildlife Society’s trial introduction of southern white rhinos from South Africa to Kenya – followed by other conservation efforts to safeguard rhino species in the coming decades.
WWF fundraising campaign helps buy land around the world-famous Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya, followed by further conservation programmes for this key flamingo feeding ground.
We change our name to World Wide Fund for Nature – the change from “wildlife” to “nature” reflects our broadening scope – and use the acronym “WWF” in our communications.
We set up a programme in the Central African Republic to enable gorilla tourism and research in Dzanga Sangha National Park
The world’s largest grassroot campaign for the environment; Earth Hour is now global with several locations in Africa celebrating.
Years of work resulted in the signing of the transformational Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration by the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda – cementing their commitment to preserving the unique landscape they all share. The transboundary collaboration was originally intended to curb poaching and ensure the safety of the mountain gorillas but it later expanded to include the northern part of Virunga in the DRC and other parks in Uganda such as Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori Mountains and Semuliki National Parks.
WWF Tanzania launches the Tanzania National Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Guidelines. In order to ensure full consideration of environmental, economic and social aspects of development proposals at all levels of decision making
Kampala Capital City Authority in Uganda imposes a fine of $540 USD to persons caught littering the city with plastic bags and bottles. Before this, In 2005, Eritrea became the first to adopt an outright ban on plastic bags. As of May 2020, 34 out of Africa’s 54 countries have either passed a law banning plastics and implemented it or have passed a law with the intention of implementation.
Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the largest protected area of dense rainforest in Africa, was removed from a list of globally endangered sites.
The Ivindo National Park in Gabon was named on the UNESCO World Heritage List