WWF is an organization that helps to protect the endangered species from the western country. One of the endangered species they are looking at is Giant Panda. ABOUT WWF
When some of the world’s scientists and conservationists met in 1961 to plan how to publicize the threat to wildlife and wild places and to raise funds to support conservation projects, they decided to launch the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). They needed a symbol, and at the time Chi Chi, the only giant panda in the Western world, had won the hearts of all that saw her at the London Zoo in the United Kingdom. She was a rare animal, like her wild panda cousins in China, and her form and color were the ideal basis for an attractive symbol.
For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES THAT CAUSED GIANT PANDAS TO BE ENDANGERED
The panda is losing their habitat and this is a very serious threat. Already confined to small remote areas in the mountains of China, much of their natural lowland habitat has been destroyed by farmers, development and forest clearing, forcing them further upland and reducing and fragmenting their habitat. This fragmentation of habitat is detrimental to the panda’s ability to find food.
Because they can consume up to 45 pounds of bamboo in a day, it is sometimes necessary for pandas to travel to a new location once the bamboo supply of an area is depleted. However, the fragmentation of their range by humans can make finding new food difficult. Any climate changes that alter the natural range of bamboo species will make these remaining islands of habitat even more precarious.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THE PANDAS
The giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family and among the world’s most threatened animals. It is universally loved, and has a special significance for WWF as it has been the organization's logo since 1961, the year WWF was founded.
The panda’s habitat in the Yangtze Basin ecoregion is shared by both pandas and millions of people who use the region's natural resources. This ecoregion is the geographic and economic heart of China. It is also critical for biodiversity conservation. Its diverse habitats contain many rare, endemic and endangered flora and fauna, the best known being the giant panda.
Economic benefits derived from the Yangtze Basin include tourism, subsistence fisheries and agriculture, transport, hydropower and water resources. The survival of the panda and the protection of its habitat will ensure that people living in the region continue to reap ecosystem benefits for many generations.
HOW HAVE WWF CONTRIBUTED IN PROTECTING THE PANDAS
WWF has been active in giant panda conservation since 1980, and was the first international conservation organization to work in China at the Chinese government's invitation.It is important to recognize that WWF and other NGOs are significant, but peripheral players in China. After many years of observation and practice it is clear that WWF’s main role in China is to assist and influence policy level conservation decisions through information collection, demonstration of conservation approaches at all levels and capacity building. In addition, WWF also serves as a facilitator; a source of information and a communicator in panda conservation.
Early panda conservation work included the first-ever intensive field studies of wild panda ecology and behavior. Current work focuses on the Minshan Mountains in Sichuan and Gansu provinces and the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi province.
Specifically our work includes:
ü Increasing the area of habitat under legal protection
ü Creating green corridors to link isolated pandas
ü Patrolling against poaching, illegal logging and encroachment
ü Building local capacities for nature reserve management
ü Continued research and monitoring
Recently, WWF has been helping the government of China to undertake its National Conservation Program for the giant panda and its habitat. This program has made significant progress. Reserves for the pandas cover more than 3.8 million acres of forest in and around their habitat.