World wildlife foundation

Once a programme for a particular animal conservation problem has been created, it then has to be put into practice..successfully.

Here at World Wildlife Foundation and also at The World's Most Endangered Animals Register we research a range of projects in strategic locations throughout the World. We will work alongside a local conservation or an animal charity, to create solutions to the problems threatening the endangered animals. Two such solutions are land programmes and compensation programmes.

Land programmes are intended to provide a safe, natural habitat within the wilds where particular endangered animals can breed and increase in numbers. The land has to have the correct climate and the correct ecosystem with which to provide an adequate source of food. The land must also be protected from potentially harmful human interference such as poaching.

The first step of our land programmes is to identify a suitable habitat for the particular endangered animals. Ideally, the land needs to be as close as possible to the animal’s natural habitat in order to provide the most comfortable surroundings. However, this is often a difficult task as the loss of such land in the area can be one of the main reasons for a reduction in population size in the first place. In order to secure the land, it must be turned into a designated conservation reserve. This means that we have to acquire legal possession of the land. Since we are an animal charity, the ideal situation is if the owner or the local government donates the land to us. However, not everybody is willing to make such donations to a land programme for endangered animals, usually it is necessary to buy the land outright. This is where monetary donations can be very useful to us. Bequests, legacies & even loans are important to this pivotal process.

Once the conservation reserve has been established and the land programme is underway, human resources are required to monitor the progress of the endangered animals and provide security for the reserve. This is where an affiliation with an animal charity in the area can be beneficial. A local animal charity can provide the local personnel and knowledge to ensure that the land programmes continue to run smoothly.

In addition to the land programmes that provide a safe environment for the endangered animals to live and breed, the World Wildlife Foundation also promotes compensation programmes that will protect them from the hostile human element.

Many of the endangered animals, such as the Patagonian Puma of Argentina and Chile, are seen as a great threat by local landowners. The animals can prey on livestock, causing serious damage to the landowners’ livelihoods. Understandably, the landowners kill the preying animals in an attempt to protect their assets. In the past, some landowners have even gone as far as hiring lion hunters to track and kill all pumas in the area of their land.

A compensation programme gives landowners the opportunity to support the endangered animals while at the same time protecting their livelihoods. When a landowner joins the programme, they agree not to kill the endangered animals. If, however, their livestock should fall prey to any of the animals then they submit a claim for compensation, which will then be paid to them to cover their loss.

The information gathered from these claims can also be used to provide means of tracking the population of the endangered animal and thereby aid the conservation effort. However, such a land programme needs strong financial backing if it is to be accepted by the landowners and therefore we, as an animal charity, are heavily dependent on kind donations.

Our aim is to continue to set up these programmes and others like them, in as many locations throughout the World as possible and welcome the support of any animal charity, organisation, government or individual in doing so.