15 WWF Success Stories of 2013

President Obama took several steps to support countries reeling under the onslaught of wildlife crime and help end poaching and trafficking. The US pledged $10 million to improve protection for threatened wildlife populations and the rangers who protect these species in multiple African countries. The White House also appointed WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts and several others to the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking.

WWF organized a global petition to urge the Mexican government to ban gillnets from the vaquita’s marine habitat, and more than 38,000 people from 127 countries and territories participated in the effort. The Mexican government will begin phasing out drift gillnets used for shrimp fishing in the upper Gulf of California in favor of more selective and vaquita-friendly fishing gear. This gear—developed and tested by WWF—reduces bycatch of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise while still allowing fishers to continue earning their livelihoods.

From 2010 to 2013, 441 new species were scientifically identified in the Amazon, including a titi monkey that purrs like a cat and a new passion flower that sprouts spaghetti-like filaments from the center of the bloom. Various scientists described the new species and WWF compiled the list of 258 plants, 84 fish, 58 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 18 birds and one mammal.

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