Joining / donating to WWF

Yorky

Is the WWF http://support.wwf.org.uk/?page=shop...rce=donate_now a worthy organisation to support? It has had occasional criticism for being close to big business but some of the conservation work they do is exemplary.

Any opinions (preferably substantiated) would be appreciated.

Birdnuts

WWF do good work around the world but as you refer to they have been critisized for getting too close to certain dubious corporate entities at times. This is an issue for many such charities that are trying to raise desperatly needed funds for a multitude of pressing conservation issues around the world. To be fair to WWF though, they do quickly remedy any situation that threatens to compremise their aims.

Like all charities it is important to know how much of your donation is going to the cause your are supporting and how much is swallowed up by admin, staff wages etc.

I regulary donate to conservation bodies both through membership(BWI, Birdlife International) etc. and direct donations to groups with a proven track record of solid conservations work and fully transparent accounting practices. The following link from Wildlife Direct list a number of wildlife charities I have supported over the years such as Lion Guardians, JACK etc. All very worth causes for anyone who wants to donate - the charities are listed under the "Latest Blog Post" section

http://wildlifedirect.org/

Yorky

Birdnuts wrote: »

I regulary donate to conservation bodies both through membership(BWI, Birdlife International) etc. and direct donations to groups with a proven track record of solid conservations work and fully transparent accounting practices. The following link from Wildlife Direct list a number of wildlife charities I have supported over the years such as Lion Guardians, JACK etc. All very worth causes for anyone who wants to donate - the charities are listed under the "Latest Blog Post" section

http://wildlifedirect.org/

Thanks. Is this the page listing the charities http://wildlifedirect.org/bloglist/?

Is there any verifying information for Wildlife Direct & the charities listed?

Birdnuts

Yorky wrote: »

Thanks. Is this the page listing the charities http://wildlifedirect.org/bloglist/?

Is there any verifying information for Wildlife Direct & the charities listed?

Yes - I can personally verify the likes of Lion Guardians, Ewaso Lions, Tacugma and Zimbabwe Wild Dogs having visited their operations myself in the last few years. Also when your are donating you will be told exactly where the money is to go eg. In the case of Lion Guardians the founder of the charity personally covers all admin costs so that every cent you donate goes to conserving the Lions in tribal areas. By following the regular blogging of whatever charity you choose - you will get a good sense of how the money is being spent:)

If you want more info on the charity you choose Paula Kahumbu(who runs the Wildlife Direct site and is a professional conservationist herself based in Nairobi, Kenya) will help you or you can email the charity you choose directly yourself.

Yorky

Thanks again. Do you know if there's a specific charity for the Amur leopard?

Also, would you rate the charities listed on Wildlife Direct higher than the WWF - as far as more of the money getting to where it is intended?

magicbastarder

just out of curiosity - any reason you'd pick the WWF to donate to rather than irish nature organisations? i know that question would seem to assume you're not donating to irish organisations already, but would like to stress i'm not trying to make that point...

Birdnuts

Yorky wrote: »

Thanks again. Do you know if there's a specific charity for the Amur leopard?

Also, would you rate the charities listed on Wildlife Direct higher than the WWF - as far as more of the money getting to where it is intended?

To answer your first question - I don't know of any specific body dedicated to this species. However the WWF have a Russian Far East Office that has done great work for Amur Leopards and Siberian Tigers in that region.

On your second query - I mentioned my positive experience with Wildlife Direct since I have first hand experiece of some of their projects. It also depends on where a charity focuses its efforts. WWF does alot of lobbying on behalf of endangered species as well as on direct conservation - each charity has a different strategy in this area so I suppose its up to the donor to deceide what combo he/she is most happy with.

PS: My donation strategy is to get money to projects on the ground that are dealing with immediate crisis eg. the collapse of Lion numbers across Africa in the last 30 years(80% fall in that time) and helping primates that are suffering from the illegal bush-meat trade etc.

Traonach

Donate to an Irish registered nature charity. If you are self-employed and if the donation is above 250 euros you can claim it back against tax.