Nature Alert: WWF in the firing line for lack of transparency

Saturday, 2 August 2008

WWF in the firing line for lack of transparency

Thank you to all Friends of the Orangutans who have written to WWF. You all managed to get a letter/response from their Chief Executive that I had failed to do in the previous three months. It just goes to show how 'people power' not only can make a difference, it really does.

The thing is; he only answered one of the four questions we put to him! And the fourth one is something I am looking into further. Anyone not used to reading such Public Relations letters could be forgiven for thinking 'this is sounds good', but as you can see, he did not give detailed answers to three key questions. As the saying goes - the devil is in the detail.

He makes mention of WWF people being in the forest etc. I have to tell you that this is entirely possible, but in Indonesian Borneo the only WWF people I have ever met or seen on all my visits have been sat in offices.

So. Does anyone wonder why WWF won't reveal their financial details regarding orangutan conservation? As a national charity you could be forgiven for thinking they would want to be seen as transparent with their handling of supporters money.

Why not write again and ask him to answer the questions?

Please write again to WWF soon, because it won't be long now before I will be asking for your continued support by writing to other organisations whose publicised orangutan conservation work is in my view best questionable.

thanks as always.

For the orangutans.
Sean

p.s. please don't forget, if you think I am biased etc, please do buy a copy of the book mentioned above. The authors are of much the same opinion as me. Are your donations being wasted? Are the groups you support REALLY doing what they say they are? I'm sure some are, but there are a good number on my Blacklist.

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.