Historic milestone for conservation in Sumatra!
Current mood: excited

Today marks a historic milestone for conservation in Sumatra – the world's sixth largest island and the only place on Earth where tigers, elephants, rhinos and orangutans co-exist.

This past August WWF applauded the government of Indonesia's decision to more than double the size of Tesso Nilo National Park – critical habitat for Sumatran elephants and tigers. WWF was intimately involved in conserving this important forest block at every step – from preventing wholesale clearing of the forest, to getting the park created in 2004, to its recent expansion. 

Now, the future for Sumatra's forests looks even more hopeful. Today, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, all of Sumatra's 10 Provincial Governors and 4 Ministers (Forestry, Environment, Interior and Public Works) announced a commitment to restore critical ecosystems, protect high conservation value (including carbon) forests, and develop ecosystem-based spatial plans as the basis for development on the island. This historic agreement represents the first island-wide commitment to protect Sumatra's natural forests, and is noteworthy because of its broad support across government ministries.

Thank Inonesian Officials for protecting Sumatra's Forests.

Once again, WWF's unique way of working delivered a major conservation commitment. Our local-to-global advocacy, foundation in solid science, and the hard work of teams around the world created this opportunity for a new path for Sumatra's forests.

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Taproot supports WWF!
Current mood: excited

Taproot supports WWF. Every day they take great care to limit the impact they make on our environment by being conscious of the effects of normal everyday activities. There are so many easy little things that we can all do, and they all add up. Whether you recycle bottles, bike to work, or bring your own grocery bags to the store, there are a million easy ways to help keep our planet in good order. For easy ways you can make a difference, the band recommends this guidefrom WWF as a great place to start

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Take Action: Protect our Coasts from Off Shore Drilling

Take Action to protect our Coasts from Off Shore Drilling. Oppose a government plan to increase offshore drilling, which damages coastal resources and communities.

Offshore drilling damages coastal resources and communities and continues our addiction to fossil fuels. Instead, we need an energy policy that increases our nation's energy efficiency and ramps up our use of our abundant renewable resources, such as wind, solar, and geothermal. In the same time that it would take to get newly-drilled oil to market, our nation could make clean, safe, renewable energy available at a large scale and for the long-term. Learn more and Take Action Now

Send a Walrus e-card to spread this Action to others

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Back to School- Green your dorm room

WWF has great ideas to help you live a more sustainable life style- even in college. We have tips on how to green your dorm room. Some of these tips would be applicable for anywhere you call home, not just the dorms. Read through WWF's tips and let me know if you have any others.

1.) Use florescent light bulbs. An 18 watt florescent bulb produces light comparable to a 75 watt regular bulb and uses far less energy. The bulbs also last about 10 times longer than standard light bulbs.

2.) Check out your dorm facility's kitchen setup before you start buying appliances. If you need in-room cooking devices, opt for a microwave/toaster combo or an energy-efficient 3-in-1 microfridge.

3.) Instead of buying plastic cups and paper plates, use reusable kitchenware. Wash a few dishes, help the environment and save some money.

4.) Unplug TVs, stereos, computers and other electronics when not in use. Many of these popular devices are a power drain even when they are turned off, consuming as much as 40% of the energy they use when on.

5.) Be cool. Keep A/C use to a minimum. The average air conditioning unit generates 3,400 pounds of CO2 per year. Instead of using this big drain on energy, opt for a fan, open a window or study outside

6.) Use a water filter and reusable water bottle instead of buying cases of water. On average, the United States consumes 50 billion bottles of water every year which requires 2.7 million tons of plastic to produce and generates 2.5 million tons of CO2.

7.) Choose an FSC-certified bed frame. By buying FSC-certified wood you are ensuring that the materials come from responsibly managed forests.

8.) Buy towels and sheets made from organic cotton. Not only are the linens free of chemicals, they are made without using harmful pesticides. You get the same softness and comfort and lessen the impact of pesticides on people and the planet.

Learn more about everyday ways to combat Global Warming

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What do you want to see on the WWF Myspace page?
Current mood: curious

Hi All,

What do you want to see on the WWF Myspace Page? We want to know what KIND of content- stories, articles, images, videos- on what TYPE of content- tigers, oranguatns, climate change, sustainable fishing, environmental policy- you want on your WWF Myspace page. We want to make this page a place that you feel is your own and that you like to come to, learn from, and contribute to. Write in and let us know!

-Panda

1:15 PM - 28 Comments - 34 Kudos - Add Comment

Run for the Cause!

Sign up for the Nike + Human Race 10K run and choose WWF as your charity of choice. You'll be joining a global race with over 1 million participants. You can run in one of the race cities or on your own. And you can help support WWF by running in the race. You can vote on your feet- for every mile you run with Nike or on race day you are helping to decide how much is donated to each charity. You can also get friends and family to make pledges on your behalf. Just do it! For WWF that is :)

1:19 PM - 9 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Disappearing Tigers- 95% lost in last 100 years

Tigers are disappearing at an alarming rate. 95% of the world's tiger population has disappeared in the last 100 years leaving only 4,000 tigers left in the wild. Three tiger sub-species have gone extinct in the past century and a fourth sub-species is the South China Tiger is "functionally extinct". Today, tigers are poisoned, shot, trapped and snared, and the majority of these animals are sought to meet the demands of a continuing illegal wildlife trade - which includes traditional Chinese medicine. World Wildlife Fund is working to conserve this species by establishing and managing effective tiger conservation areas, reducing the poaching of tigers and their prey, eliminating the trade in tiger parts and products, and creating incentives that will encourage local communities and others to support tiger conservation. You can learn more about how WWF is working to conserve tigers by visiting the TRAFFIC page. You can help support WWF by making a donation and or taking action with the WWF Conservation Action Network.

9:11 PM - 26 Comments - 30 Kudos - Add Comment

See the rest of John and Ben’s video blogs!

Interested in learning more about the guys experiences on Voyage for the Future? You can view the rest of their video blogs on WWF's website. Want to check out what John had to say? How about what Ben thought about the effects of global warming on the Arctic? They both have 10 video blogs detailing the 10 day voyage.

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Voyage featured on Myspace’s Our Planet

WWF's Voyage for the Future is featured on Myspace's Our Planet! We are excited to be featured- thanks Myspace! You can check out videos and the slide show from the Voyage on our page. And you can get a first hand account of the Voyage from our US Amabssadors John and Ben.

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Introducing... WWF’s Voyage for the Future

WWF selected 18 students from 9 countries to join the Voyage for the Future boat trip to the Arctic. These students missions? To be first hand witnesses to the effects of Climate Change on our earth's marine system and to share their experience with the rest of us. You can read more about Voyage for the Future and see awesome videos of the Arctic below. You can also meet John and Ben, the US ambassadors for the trip. They have lots to say about what they experienced and learned about Climate Change. Check out their videos below!

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