Life is Biodiversity

Species fact sheet: 

Life is Biodiversity 

Come with us on a journey. Close your eyes. 

Where shall we begin? The lush green dense 

forests of Central Africa where we hear the 

sounds of birds high in the trees, the shrill 

cries and sounds of monkeys, a distant plod 

and sway of shy forest elephants and the 

low buzz of insects in the air. 

Forest canopy in the Congo Basin rain forest. 

© WWF-Canon / Martin Harvey 

Or shall we move to the arid dry plains of 

Namibia where a lone rhino looms on the 

horizon and we unexpectedly come across 

an ambling herd of desert elephants as the 

sun sets and water holes beckon. 

Black rhinoceros, Namibia. 

© WWF-Canon / Frederick J. Weyerhaeuser 

In Kenya, it’s hot, dry and farmers look at their crops, desperate 

for the maize to ripen as hunger nips the air. Even as 

expectation rises, hungry elephants smell the maize from ten 

kilometers away and herald an unwelcome arrival. Overnight an 

entire year’s income can be consumed or destroyed. 

African elephants, Kenya. © WWF-Canon / Martin Harvey 

1

Orang-utan, Borneo, Indonesia. 

© WWF-Canon / Alain Compost 

Eastern lowland gorilla, Central Africa. 


What about tree-dwelling apes that are victims of war 

and civil strife? Eaten, kidnapped, traded illegally, losing 

their homes and last refuge — we may lose them within the 

next 20 years. 

Or pristine beaches juxtaposed with high rise development 

and tourist hotels, oil exploration, shanty towns, and 

fishing communities eeking the last remaining resources 

from our depleted seas. Where mammoth trawlers scrape 

ocean beds and fine mesh nets swing from boats trapping 

everything in their wake. Or where lines hang deep in the 

water and hook thousands of turtles along with the fish 

that are targeted — immobile, powerless, and dead or 

dying. 

Africa — desperately poor in many places and where 

wildlife and people are competing for space, food, and for 

life. Resources, food, shelter, and water are scant and 

sickness and famine are frequently woven into the fabric of 

everyday survival. 

Shall we go to Asia? Feel the hot humid air, see the 

colours of the jungle, the smog and bustle of cities, the 

grind of machinery, and development heavy in the air. 

Asia, hothouse of wonders, of rich and wondrous 

biodiversity. Where pandas lazily move amongst the 

bamboo and orang-utans peek out from the tops of trees. 

The regal tiger, a flash in the undergrowth, glimpse of 

orange and black. Hunted, reviled, adored and feared. 

Valued for its skin, its parts, its worth as medicine but now 

driven to near extinction. 

Imagine lumbering elephants becoming enemies and 

violence streaking the air as we close in to fight for space 

and food. Look over Sabah in Malaysia — and the uniform 

lines of oil palm plantations that have usurped the virgin 

forests. Boxes and straight lines on the world’s surface. 

Where forests in Indonesia burn every year and cloud the 

skies with toxic black smoke, filling lungs with pain and 

causing confusion. 

Think of Asian rhinos — some of the rarest and most 

reclusive mammals in the world that now hover on the 

brink of extinction. Historically hunted for their horn, a 

prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines, they are 

Leatherback turtles, French Guiana. 

© WWF-Canon / Roger LeGuen 

Black rhinoceros, Africa. 


now devastated by the destruction of their lowland forest 

habitat. 

Home to some of the world’s most prized jewels, we are 

destroying our planet’s natural heritage at an 

unprecedented rate. We prise and pluck what we can from 

the earth, and poach plants or animals for international 

trade — poaching and illegal trade that harms species and 

local people. 

Here in Southeast Asia — feel the buzz of a major hub for 

trade in wildlife, a place which acts as a supplier, 

consumer, and a transit point for plants, animals, timber, 

reptile skins, plant extracts, and live birds. See the volume 

of trade and gasp. How long can that be sustainable? How 

much goes unnoticed, how many tonnes slide away 

silently in vessels and airplanes across the ocean? 

Want to move on? Look up at the mighty trees and 

breathe in as we come to the Amazon. The Latin America 

and the Caribbean region embraces almost half of the 

world's diversity of plant and animal species and half of 

the world's tropical forests. Hear the roar of the saw and 

the creak of falling timber. 

Where stealthy black jaguars move in the dense forests 

only to find their home gone from one day to the next. 

Where magical spectacled bears sneak onto farms and 

raid crops in their former homes, making pests of 

themselves and frightening communities. 

Let us explore and wonder as dolphins peek their heads 

out from fresh water tributaries and enormous ancient 

turtles struggle inland to beaches to lay their eggs in a 

trance and then head off to the oceans towards the moon. 

Crossing the world, these mighty creatures journey 

thousands of kilometers to Asia and Africa, following their 

ancestral routes, now blocked by shipping fleets and walls 

of fishing nets. 

Look out to sea. Here too see the never ending rows of 

boats, pollution, dredging, and the clearing of wetlands, 

mangroves, and salt marshes. And here almost one-third 

of people live in poverty, mostly indigenous communities, 

lacking education, health, and housing. 

Bengal tiger, Asia. 


Greater one-horned rhino, Nepal. 

© WWF-Canon / Michel Gunther 

2 

Jaguar, Brazil. 

© WWF-Canon / Y.-J. Rey-Millet 

Bottle-nosed dolphin, Honduras. 

© WWF-Canon / Chris Martin Bahr

WWF Snow leopard anti-poaching brigade, Mongolia. © WWF-Canon / Hartmut Jungius 

Come to Europe now… From the mountainous icy 

terrains in the Ukraine and the flat snowy lands in the 

Russian Far East, to the warm balmy beaches in the 

Mediterranean. Or the high-rise apartments, the stream of 

cars, and the constant noise and bustle of cities. To the 

lone wolves that have been vilified as enemies and the few 

big cats that exist amongst us in isolated populations. Or 

the tourist enclaves where we build and destroy the space 

where turtles nest and birds migrate. From Romanian 

bears and Iberian lynx, to the Amur tiger, freshwater fish, 

and lone leopards, here too, much is disappearing before 

our eyes. 

It’s not an easy path to tread but one we have to negotiate. 

We live in a world that is changing hour by hour, where our 

impact on the earth is heavy and where people urgently 

need ways to live with species, side by side — not just for 

their sake but for ours. For if we lose our species, we lose 

ourselves in a world we have destroyed. 

• Less fish in the sea—less food for survival. 

• A lack of clean water 

• Fewer opportunities for livelihoods—for health, 

education, and a better life 

• A lack of forest resources such as food, or plants for 

medicine 

• And in the long term, less income for communities 

Let’s retrace our steps. WWF and its partners have a 

number of projects around the world to reduce 

human-animal conflict and improve the livelihoods of the 

people affected. These projects range from traditional 

approaches such as compensation schemes to the 

development of novel strategies which address the root 

causes of these conflicts. The solutions are often specific 

to the species or area concerned, and are often creative 

and simple. 

An important aspect of the work is that it benefits both the 

animals and local human communities, and is developed 

through and with these communities. The idea is to find 

MSC-certified fishermen Baja, Mexico. © WWF-Canon / Gustavo Ybarra 

solutions that lead to the mutually beneficial co-existence 

of people with wildlife. In most cases, the work has often 

led to people being more enthusiastic and supportive of 

conservation, and has demonstrated that people can live 

alongside wildlife while developing sustainable livelihoods. 

WWF recognises the need to take conservation beyond 

the borders of national parks and nature reserves into 

entire landscapes by integrating the protection, 

restoration, and sustainable use of land. The essence is to 

conserve the broad ecology of species and their 

behaviours in their natural habitat, not just individual 

populations or individual animals. 

WWF’s landscape conservation goal aims at connecting 

protected areas through natural corridors and protecting 

them and managing them effectively. To do this, field 

managers and policy-makers must employ ‘peoplefriendly’ 

conservation approaches that will allow humans 

to coexist harmoniously with species in these landscapes. 

This ambitious venture must involve local communities, 

local authorities and other stakeholders at different levels 

of planning, policy-making and implementation. 

Through its global network and especially the work of 

TRAFFIC, operated as a joint programme by and between 

WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, WWF 

works to stop illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. This 

includes sound scientific and technical information 

collection and analysis; supporting enforcement of CITES, 

the best-known international body for regulating 

international trade in wildlife; promoting new laws and 

regulations; helping with anti-poaching activities; working 

with local communities to find more sustainable ways of 

using their resources; capacity building; and public 

education. 

Above all, the aim is to encourage sustainability in wildlife 

trade, by informing all those involved, including the general 

public, about the environmental harm illegal and 

unsustainable wildlife trade can cause, and by providing 

guidance and support to counteract it. 

Anti-poaching brigades, Bikin River, Russian Federation. 

© WWF-Canon / Vladimir Filonov 

Rhinoceros radio tracking, Nepal. 


3 

Woman carrying fuelwood, Sumatra, Indonesia. 

© WWF-Canon / Mauri Rautkari

By influencing national, regional, and international policy 

and legislation that integrate with the field, we hope to 

ensure that on-the-ground conservation meets the needs 

of the communities who must take on custodianship of 

natural resources, as well as ensuring the long-term 

management of species and their habitats. 

Dolphins, small whales, marine turtles, seabirds, sharks, 

juvenile fish, fish with no commercial value, corals … 

every year, billions of these so-called “non-target species” 

are caught by industrial fishing boats then discarded dead 

or injured back into the ocean. But proven solutions do 

exist to reduce bycatch — and still benefit local fishing 

communities and industrial fisheries—and others are 

waiting to be discovered. WWF and its partners are 

working around the world to develop, test, and implement 

new fishing gear and to change the way fisheries are 

managed so that fewer non-target species are caught. 

WWF and its partners are also working to strengthen 

legislation on bycatch and to raise consumer awareness 

about sustainably caught fish. 

The aim is to encourage sustainability in the world’s 

fisheries, by informing all those involved — fishers, 

consumers, the seafood industry, and governments — 

about the enormous environmental harm that bycatch is 

causing, and by providing practical solutions and support 

to counteract it. 

WWF is committed to long-term action to address and 

reverse the alarming trend of species declines and 

extinction. 

Species as part of a wider context 

Although WWF's Global Species Programme is ambitious, 

the conservation gains are also correspondingly high in 

terms of the animals themselves and their habitats, as well 

as the many thousands of other species and local 

livelihoods that will benefit from efforts to conserve these 

species. 

By conserving threatened species in their natural habitat, 

WWF also ensures that the variety of life-supporting 

ecological services that are found there, continue to 

function for the benefit of both humans and wildlife. 

The decline of a species is very often a strong indicator of 

degradation in the local habitat, which can also negatively 

impact the biodiversity of that area. 

Giant panda, China. 


In practical terms… 

When conserving species, we often see an associated 

benefit that contributes to the greater environmental 

picture by: 

1. Increasing the number, size, and connectivity of 

protected areas 

2. Encouraging interaction and debate on issues that 

affect humans and nature 

3. Increasing awareness amongst governments to take 

environmental issues seriously, by encouraging their 

participation in international conventions such as CITES 

4. Improving enforcement of measures that help to 

increase the sustainability of wildlife trade 

5. Creating opportunities for tourism to develop in a way 

that benefits both local communities and the 

environment—species and their habitats 

6. Assisting local engagement with the environment in a 

way that is helping to raise awareness about conservation 

and the importance of sustainability 

7. Providing jobs and livelihoods in areas where species 

such as tigers/elephants/rhinos require protection 

8. Encouraging development that is sustainable and 

environmentally sound — by drawing attention to regions 

that would otherwise be developed in a way that is 

unchecked 

9. Providing important economic and social benefits for 

local communities, and serving to provide incentives for 

habitat protection. 

Come join us on this journey—we’ve only just begun! 

Find out more... 

This fact sheet is designed to give a broad overview of the work of WWF’s Global Species Programme and to give examples of 

WWF's work and solutions on the ground. For more detailed information on species, WWF, and the work we do, please visit 

www.panda.org/species 

Take action... 

Visit www.passport.panda.org to find out how you can take action to help protect species and fragile environments. 

© text 2006 WWF. All rights reserved. © 1986 Panda symbol WWF. ® WWF Registered Trademark owner. Images © WWF-Canon Photo Database. 

4 

WWF International 

Avenue du Mont-Blanc 

CH-1196 Gland 

Switzerland 

tel: +41-22 364 9111 

fax: +41-22 364 0640

Life is Biodiversity

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?