Recently active topics in WWF

Happy to contribute to WWF but you should know that the water bottle you recently out as thank you's is extremely flawed...the logo ink rubs off. Should I be concerned with my children using them? Were they purchased from a reputable company? I received two and wonder if I should pitch them....to which I would have done without in order to reduce landfill.

Your link to the Euphrates Soft Shell Turtle points to a page about coniferous, broad leaf forests.

You should be ashamed of your outright lie about the polar bears. They are not endangered. What a rediculous TV ad. Hopefully global cooling will cause you to go extinct!!

Dear World Wild Life Foundation

I want to volunteer to your programme and raise a few environmental problems. I hope this is the right branch to be sending my letter to; if it is not would you please inform me, and let me know where I should write the following environmental concerns. However, since it is related to the natural environment and you are a natural environment protecting organization, I would appreciate it if you would read through my concern and suggest to me further action which either you or I can take.

I have grown up in a primitive mountainous area of Hunan, China. It is a primitive forest that has always been one of the country’s protected forests. A place of real untouched nature. It was a mountain village with only one road coming in. The place used to have all species of wild trees, bamboos, and all kinds of wild plants. There were many species of fruit trees that yielded delicious wild fruit. Such as wild plums, grapes, pears, olives, berries, kiwis, jujubes, chestnuts, and mulberries. The species of trees and plants are indescribable, and so are the species of all kinds of wild animals, and insects. However, about 10 years ago, the government decided to profit from the place instead of preserving it as a natural and wild forest. At first, they only contracted out the place for the selling of the wood of the big trees and bamboos. After this resulted in good profit, they decided to make full use of it. So a series of environmental ruinous actions started taking place: 1) all the big trees were cut down and sold; 2) all the bamboo were chopped whenever it was old enough to be sold. Later, the most disastrous actions took place, they chopped all the unprofitable trees down. Such as all kinds of small and large unsellable trees and bamboo, wild fruit trees, and left only a few species of trees and bamboo that are salable. Even some animals which were prohibited for selling were hunted and sold. And as these wild trees and plants started growing back, which considerably slows down the growth of the salable trees and bamboos, the government issued a new policy. All these 「stumbling blocks」 were to be cleared away every 3 years. About 2 years ago, it was found that the labor costs for cutting the trees down was too much, so wide roads were constructed for the cargo truck to drive up into the hills at many directions to carry away the salable trees and bamboos.

About a year ago, a businessman from another province spotted the place and decided to invest for a power station based on water. Soon the project started, and a water channel was built along all the mountains to collect water. Villagers were forced to go along with the project because this guy has gained the government's support. Now, rue to the lessened water source, people from different villages start to complain that they don''t have enough water for farming and daily use. There were even fightings. Water has never been a problem before. It's all because people from there have very little environmental knowledge. They didn't know the continuous disruption of the forest would endanger them in water supply and temperature raising.

It is out of love of the place I write this letter to you to search for help, I sincerely hope you would kindly suggest me what I should do or where I should go to save the place from being further destroyed, as it really does affect the environment for a place so big. This place is in China, I have tried to report the problem to the local WWF and were ignored. Therefore going to the local environmental agency is of little help, for I doubt there will be anyone who will treat the matter seriously.

Please suggest to me of things I can do regarding my concerns. If needed, I will be more than happy to render you with more details. Please feel free to contact me at my email address: claireyang79@hotmail.com .

Would appreciate your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

Claire