What is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) known for?

On June 21, 2023, the Ministry of Justice recognized the World Wildlife Fund (WWF; recognized as a foreign agent) as an undesirable organization on the territory of the Russian Federation. For more information about the fund and its activities, see the Kommersant reference.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was founded in 1961. The organization was founded by the British: biologist Sir Julian Huxley, artist and conservationist Peter Scott, as well as ornithologists Guy Mountfort and Max Nicholson. The giant panda has been the symbol of WWF since the very beginning of the organization’s existence.

The mission of the World Wildlife Fund is “to prevent the growing degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to achieve harmony between man and nature.” The main goal is to preserve the biological diversity of the Earth. WWF works with other NGOs, governments, businesses, investment banks, scientists, fishermen, farmers and local communities. The organization also runs public campaigns to influence decision makers.

The first WWF projects in Russia appeared in 1989: at that time, work on the creation of the Bolshoi Arktichniy Reserve received funding from the fund for the first time. In 1994, the Russian representative office of WWF was opened, and in 2004 it became a national organization – WWF Russia. As reported on the website of the fund, for nearly 30 years, he has carried out 1,500 field projects to preserve and increase the natural wealth of Russia in 47 regions of the country.

According to a report on the WWF website, in 2021 the fund received 1.1 billion rubles from sponsors. More than 70% came from foreign structures, including WWF units in the UK, Germany, Sweden, as well as the European Commission and the German International Climate Initiative. Another 4.4 million rubles. WWF Russia received from the Presidential Grants Fund, and 109.6 million rubles from Russian companies.

On March 10, 2023, WWF was included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. “Under the guise of activities to protect nature and the environment, the biological diversity of species, representatives of the fund tried to influence the decisions of the executive and legislative authorities of the Russian Federation, hindered the implementation of industrial and infrastructure projects,” the ministry explained. decisions and their policies.