Text 4. World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting around 1300 conservation and environmental projects around the world. It is a charity, with approximately 60% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals. 45% of the fund's income comes from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

The group says its mission is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment". Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.

So WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

· conserving the world’s biological diversity

· ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable

· promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Abbreviation dispute. In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued the World Wrestling Federation (now named World Wrestling Entertainment) for unfair trade practices. Both parties had shared the initials "WWF" since late 1979. The conservation organization claimed that the wrestling company had violated a 1994 agreement regarding international use of the WWF initials.

‎On August 10, 2001, a British court ruled in favor of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The World Wrestling Federation filed an appeal in October 2001. However, on May 5, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its Web address from wwf.com to WWE.com, and replaced every "WWF" reference on the existing site with "WWE", as a prelude to changing the company's name to "World Wrestling Entertainment." Its stock ticker also switched from WWF to WWE.

Abandonment of the initialism did not end the two organizations' legal conflict. Later in 2002, the World Wide Fund for Nature petitioned the court for $360 million in damages, but the wrestling company prevailed. A subsequent request to overturn by the World Wide Fund for Nature was dismissed by the English Court of Appeals on June 28, 2007. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment won a limited decision which permitted them to continue marketing certain pre-existing products with the abandoned WWF logo. However, the wrestling company was obliged to issue newly-branded merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the "WWE" initials. Additionally, the court order required the company to remove both spoken and visual references to "WWF" in its library of video footage (which spans several decades) outside of the United Kingdom.

Publications. The WWF publish the Living Planet Index in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London. Along with their ecological footprint calculations the index is used to produce a two yearly Living Planet Report to give an overview of the impact of human activity on the world.

Projects. Since 1985, WWF has invested over US$1 billion in more than 12,000 projects in more than 100 countries. WWF runs about 1,300 projects at any one time. In carrying out its work, WWF cooperates with many partners, including UN organizations, IUCN, and development agencies such as USAID and the World Bank. WWF also works with business & industry partners.

WWF is governed by a Board of Trustees under an International President, HE Chief Emeka Anyaoku. President Emeritus is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The Director General of WWF International is Jim Leape.

WWF has over 5 million supporters: WWF has over 100,000 activists from more than 170 countries. WWF employs over 5,400 people worldwide staff in full and part-time position.

WWF's annual income & expenditure. In 2008 WWF's total global income was ?447 million. Individuals contribute 60% of WWF's income. 45% of WWF's total income comes from the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Only 9% of funds raised is spent on finance and administration - much of this cost is covered by income from trust funds. In the US, WWF receives a 4-star Charity Navigator rating ("Exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause").

WWF in music. “No One's Gonna Change Our World” was a charity album released in 1969 for the benefit of the WWF. Peter Rose and Anne Conlon are music theatre writers, well known for their environmental musicals for children, who were commissioned by WWF-UK to write several environmental musicals as part of an education plan. Some were narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and broadcast on television in numerous countries.

Text 5. WWF. A History of a Global