Its Regional and National Offices.

Greenpeace has 28 offices in different regions in the United States, and 42 regions worldwide. These national and regional offices are largely autonomous in carrying out jointly agreed global campaign strategies within the local context they operate in and in seeking the necessary financial support from donors to fund this work. National and regional offices support a network of volunteer-run local groups. Local groups participate in many campaigns in their area and mobilize for larger protests and activities elsewhere. Millions of supporters who are not organized into local groups support Greenpeace by making financial donations and participating in campaigns as citizens and consumers.

The development and coordination of these global strategies is the task of Greenpeace International. Supported by a consultative international decision making process in which the National/Regional Offices are the main stakeholders, Greenpeace International co-ordinates worldwide campaigns and monitors the development and performance of national and regional Greenpeace offices.

The Greenpeace National / Regional offices are firmly rooted within the local environmental communities around the globe in the countries where Greenpeace operates. They maintain our direct contact with the public: all Greenpeace offices can be directly contacted by phone or email.

Greenpeace is present in the following countries and regions as of March 2007: Oceania; Australia-Pacific region; New Zealand; Europe: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain and others; Greenpeace Nordic: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden; Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and others; Greenpeace Mediterranean: Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, Malta, Tunisia, Turkey; Americas: Canada, Chile, Mexico, United States, Argentina; Asia: China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea; South-East Asia: Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand; Africa: South Africa, DR Congo, Senegal.

In most National and Regional offices, voting memberships made up of activists and volunteers elect a Board of Directors.

Greenpeace International is the entity that maintains contacts with supporters and donors in countries where we do not have offices. It also provides a range of services to the national/regional offices such as maintenance of the Greenpeace ships, setting up new Greenpeace offices, drawing up combined financial forecasts and strategies for the worldwide organisation, providing fundraising support to national/regional offices, providing cost-efficient global IT services and Internet tools, and protecting the Greenpeace trademark.

Greenpeace has always been advanced in the use of IT as a campaign tool. They are confident IT will gain an even more important role in the future. As such they have set course on a modernization and upgrade of systems on all levels, from infrastructure to applications, with the use of the most modern technologies. The Greenpeace International IT department provides IT services to national and regional offices across Europe, the Americas, Asia & the Pacific and Africa and consists of teams for project management, infrastructure and global support.

Greenpeace International (GPI) uses three vessels: The Rainbow Warrior, The Arctic Sunrise, and The Esperanza. GPI operates these ships, and employs the ships' crew. GPI is always looking for experienced sea going crew members, that hold the appropriate, current STCW95 licenses.

Text 3. Greenpeace.

Some Campaigns and Priorities.

Greenpeace runs campaigns and projects which fit into the "Issues" (as campaign areas are called within Greenpeace) categories below. Besides exposing problems such as over-fishing (in 1976 a campaign was launched against the killing and skinning of baby seals in Newfoundland for the high-fashion fur trade, targeting Norwegian ships engaged in the trade after receiving a hostile welcome from the Newfoundland fishermen involved in the hunt. Greenpeace used helicopters to move people and supplies to a base camp at Belle Isle. Brigitte Bardot later got involved in this campaign, to great effect. In August 2008, a Greenpeace ship started dropping 150 2-3 ton boulders into the North Sea in order to stop trawling, which it says harms marine life, demanding that Germany and the EU implement a ban on heavy net bottom trawling in the protected area. German fishermen said that the rocks can damage boats and threaten fishermen lives. The Federation of Fishermen Associations refused to talk with Greenpeace after the action and its president Ben Daalder made the statement "We don't negotiate with a criminal organisation") or threats linked to nuclear power (in 1973 the yacht Fri spearheaded an international protest of a flotilla of yachts in a voyage against atmospheric nuclear tests at Moruroa in French Polynesia. Fri was an important part of a series of anti-nuclear protest campaigns out of New Zealand and Australia which lasted thirty years, from which New Zealand declared itself a Nuclear free zone which became enshrined in legislation in what became the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987; On August 22, 2007, the Philippine Department of Energy's plan to develop nuclear energy as an alternative source of power was opposed by Von Hernandez, campaign director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, who warned that exploring nuclear options to bolster energy demand is "dangerous and misleading." He said the risks of accidents like Chernobyl or the most recent Kashiwazaki nuclear plant leak in Japan after an earthquake are real), such as harmful radiation (for example, activists place themselves between the whaler's harpoons and their prey or invade nuclear facilities dressed as barrels of radioactive waste. Currently Greenpeace is in the midst of a campaign called Project Hot Seat, which is geared toward placing pressure on the United States Congress to stop global warming. Other initiatives include the development of a fuel-efficient car, the SmILE) and proliferation, Greenpeace campaigns for alternative solutions such as marine reserves and renewable energy (February 2009: following a six-month long Quit Coal campaign by Greenpeace, the Greek Minister of Development states that the government is not considering coal or nuclear power as part of Greece's energy future. Instead the Greek government will be rewriting its Long-Term Energy Plan to exclude coal and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency).

The organization currently addresses many and varied environmental issues with a primary focus on efforts to stop global warming (in July 2009, 11 Greenpeace activists climbed Mount Rushmore and unfurled a banner challenging President Barack Obama to stop global warming) and the preservation of the world's oceans and ancient forests (August 2009: after seven years of Greenpeace pressure, Finnish government-owned logging company Metsähallitus agrees to leave the tall trees of the old-growth forests of northern Lapland standing, and with them, the livelihood of the Sámi people; August 2009: in a tremendous victory for ancient forests, Kimberly-Clark, the company known for its popular brands like Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle announces a policy that places it among the industry leaders in sustainability. The announcement brings the five-year Greenpeace Kleercut campaign to a successful). In addition to conventional environmental organization methods, such as lobbying businesses (April 2009: Germany announces that it will become the sixth EU country to ban the cultivation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) maize MON810 - the only GE crop that can be commercially grown in the region) and politicians and participating in international conferences, Greenpeace uses direct action to attract attention to particular environmental problems.

Four Greenpeace activists breached security at Heathrow Airport on February 25, 2008 to climb on top of a British Airways plane and protest plans to build a third runway. On May 23, 2008, Greenpeace blocked coal shipments of Team Energy Philippines with the intention being to prevent expansion of coal power plants in the country. They sprayed a banner saying "Quit Coal" on the ship, but after negotiations they withdrew.

July 2008: Ferrero (famous for its Nutella brand) becomes the latest large palm oil user to changes its position to support a moratorium on cutting down trees in Indonesia for palm oil plantations.

August 2008: After our campaign in the 1990's against toxic PVC the US Congress somewhat belatedly follows Europe's lead of outlawing toxic PVC in children's toys.

February 2009: Electronics giant Philips bows to pressure from Greenpeace and consumers and becomes a leader in environmentally friendly take-back policies for electronic waste. An ambitious policy of global take-back exceeds legal requirements in many countries.

Among current Greenpeace priorities there are such as:

• Tackling human-induced climate change (global warming)

• Preserving the oceans (including stopping whaling and bottom trawling)

• Saving ancient forests

• Peace and nuclear disarmament

• Promoting sustainable agriculture (and opposing genetic engineering)

• Eliminating toxic chemicals (including from E-waste), many of which are carcinogens

• Solar Electricity. The EPIA/Greenpeace Advanced Scenario shows that by the year 2030, Photovoltaic systems could be generating approximately 2,600 TWh of electricity around the world. This means that, assuming a serious commitment is made to energy efficiency, enough solar power would be produced globally in twenty-five years’ time to satisfy the electricity needs of almost 14% of the world’s population.

• Fossil fuels phase-out. In the Greenpeace and EREC´s Energy (R)evolution scenario, the world could eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090.

• Think tanks. Think tanks, under the Greenpeace umbrella, propose blueprints for the world's transition to renewable energy. The focus is to reduce carbon emissions without compromising on economic growth. The Solar Generation project, conceived in 2000 by Greenpeace and the European Photo-voltaic Industry Association (EPIA), addresses major energy challenges facing the global society and charts out the solar energy remedies until 2050. Greenpeace think tanks also focus on individual nation's energy scenarios. For example, Greenpeace has published scenarios where renewable resources like solar can become the backbone of the economies of developing countries like India, by 2050.

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

Environmental Conservation Organization.

WWF organization grew from being a small group of committed wildlife enthusiasts into a global network, supported by people from all walks of life, who, like WWF, care about the welfare of our planet. In almost 5 decades, WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund) has become one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. With almost 5 million supporters distributed throughout 5 continents, WWF has offices in over 90 countries and can safely claim to have played a major role in the evolution of the international conservation movement.

WWF in the 60's. Gerald Watterson is well-known and a very important figure in WWF for his lifetime's work towards the conservation of nature and for his key role in the creation the original panda logo for WWF.

One of the most important figures in WWF's early history was the renowned British biologist, Sir Julian Huxley. The first Director General of UNESCO, Huxley had also helped found a scientific research-based conservation institution, now known as IUCN-The World Conservation Union.

In 1960, Huxley went to East Africa to advise UNESCO on wildlife conservation in the area. He was appalled at what he saw. On his return to London, he wrote three articles for The Observer newspaper in which he warned the British public that habitat was being destroyed and animals hunted at such a rate that much of the region's wildlife could disappear within the next 20 years.

The articles hit home, alerting readers to the fact that nature conservation was a serious issue. Huxley received a number of letters from concerned members of the public. Among these was a letter from businessman Victor Stolan, who pointed out the urgent need for an international organization to raise funds for conservation.

But Stolan stressed that he was not in a position to launch such an organization himself. Huxley therefore contacted ornithologist Max Nicholson, Director General of Britain's Nature Conservancy, who took up the challenge with enthusiasm. By spring 1961, Nicholson had gathered together a group of scientists and advertising and public relations experts, all committed to establishing an organization of the kind Stolan had suggested. Prominent among those experts was another ornithologist Peter Scott, a vice-president of IUCN, who was later to become the new organization's first chairman.

The group decided to base its operations in neutral Switzerland, where IUCN had already transferred its headquarters to a villa in the small town of Morges on the northern shores of Lake Geneva. The new organization, which planned to work closely with IUCN, was to share this villa. IUCN welcomed the fledgling organization: "Together," both parties agreed, "we will harness public opinion and educate the world about the necessity for conservation."

Meanwhile, Chi-Chi the panda had arrived at London Zoo. Aware of the need for a strong, recognizable symbol that would overcome all language barriers, the group agreed that the big, furry animal with her appealing, black-patched eyes, would make an excellent logo. The black and white panda has since come to stand as a symbol for the conservation movement as a whole.

WWF was officially formed and registered as a charity on 11 September 1961. The international fund-raising mission was about to begin.

The founders decided that the most efficient approach would be to set up offices in different countries. They therefore launched National Appeals, which would send up to two-thirds of the funds raised to the international secretariat in Morges (now known as WWF International), and keep the remainder to spend on conservation projects of their own choice.

WWF planned to work, wherever possible, with existing non-governmental organizations, and base its grants on the best scientific knowledge available a policy which has been adhered to ever since. Its first grants went to IUCN, the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP, now Birdlife International), the International Waterfowl Research Bureau, and the International Youth Federation for the Study and Conservation of Nature.

The first National Appeal, with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as President, was launched in the United Kingdom on 23 November 1961. On 1 December, it was followed by the United States, and a few days later, Switzerland. Since then, WWF has grown considerably. National Appeals are now known as National Organizations. Twenty-four of these are affiliated to WWF International, while five organizations which operate under a different name are associated with WWF. Each National Organization is a separate legal entity, responsible to its own Board and accountable to its donors. WWF International itself is accountable to the National Organizations, donors, and the Swiss authorities. Most of the members of WWF International's Board and committees are drawn from the Boards and Chief Executive Officers of the National Organizations. WWF also has programme offices throughout the world and representatives in many countries.

In its first three years, WWF raised and donated almost US$1.9 million to conservation projects. Much of this money was given by individuals, moved by newspaper articles such as a seven-page feature on the organization in the Daily Mirror newspaper which provoked the British public to send in £60,000 within a week of its publication.

Some of the early grants, such as those to IUCN and ICBP, were large. Another substantial donation went to the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands. WWF still funds projects in the Galápagos, and has helped the Ecuadorean government to establish the Galápagos National Park, control introduced species which threaten the islands' rare indigenous plants and animals, and set up research training and education programmes. The Galápagos Islands could now stand as an example of the way low-impact tourism can be integrated with research, development, and conservation initiatives.

In 1969, WWF joined forces with the Spanish government to purchase a section of the Guadalquivir Delta marshes and establish the Coto Doñana National Park. This important wetland area, one of the last refuges of the Spanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx, is constantly threatened by schemes to increase local agricultural output and tourism. WWF still supports Coto Doñana, and is fighting proposals to drain the marshes and syphon off water to irrigate agricultural land along the coast and to expand tourist facilities.

WWF in the 70's. Establishing the Trust Fund. From the very beginning, WWF has been aware that people donate money to the organization because they want to give direct support to conservation.

In 1970, HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, then President of WWF International, launched an important initiative that was to provide WWF with the solid, independent financial base it needed. The organization set up a US$10 million fund, known as The 1001: A Nature Trust, to which 1001 individuals each contributed US$10,000. Since establishing The 1001, WWF International has been able to use interest from the trust fund to help meet its basic administration costs.

So when WWF helped the Indian government launch Project Tiger in 1973, the public was assured that its donations would go towards saving India's charismatic, but severely endangered, tigers. Mrs Indira Gandhi set up a task force to carry out a comprehensive six-year tiger conservation plan and the government put aside land for nine tiger reserves. India later added six more reserves. Nepal followed suit with three, and Bangladesh with one.

Two years later, WWF embarked on its first worldwide Tropical Rainforest Campaign, raising money and arranging for several dozen representative tropical rainforest areas in Central and West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, to be managed as national parks or reserves. Forest conservation has been an important WWF focus ever since. The organization's Forest Programme now supports 350 projects all over the world, in an effort to conserve not only tropical rainforests but also the forests of the temperate zones.

The 1970s were an exciting and active time. The launch of an ambitious marine campaign, "The Seas Must Live", in 1976, enabled WWF to set up marine sanctuaries for whales, dolphins, and seals, and to protect marine turtle nesting sites. The decade drew to a close with a campaign to "Save the Rhino", which rapidly raised over US$1 million to combat rhino poaching.

Meanwhile, concerned that trade in animals, plants, and commodities such as ivory and rhino horn was driving many species towards extinction, IUCN had created a body to monitor trade in wildlife and wildlife products. The new organization, known as TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Fauna and Flora in Commerce) opened its first office in the United Kingdom in 1976. With WWF's help, TRAFFIC has now grown into a network of 17 offices on five continents, and has played a major role in persuading governments all over the world to increase species protection and strengthen wildlife trade controls.

All this activity meant that WWF had long outgrown its villa in Morges, and desperately needed new premises. In 1979, the accommodation problem was solved by an anonymous donation that enabled the organization to move to a modern office block in Gland, along the lake, halfway between Geneva and Lausanne.

WWF: The Eighties. By the end of the 1970s, WWF had grown from a small organization that concentrated on problems such as endangered species and habitat destruction, into an international institution involved in all manner of conservation issues. Perhaps the most important of these was the need to integrate development with conservation.

WWF marked the dawn of the 1980s by collaborating with IUCN and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the publication of a joint World Conservation Strategy. Endorsed by the United Nations Secretary General, the Strategy was launched simultaneously in 34 world capitals. It recommended a holistic approach to conservation and highlighted the importance of using natural resources sustainably. Since the launch, 50 countries have formulated and initiated their own national conservation strategies, based on its recommendations. A simplified version, How to Save the World, was subsequently published in several languages.

Meanwhile, WWF continued to build up its popular support base. In 1981, when HRH The Duke of Edinburgh took over from John Loudon as President of WWF International, the organization had one million regular supporters worldwide. Fundraising efforts received a boost in 1983, with the launch of the Conservation Stamp Collection. Under this scheme, WWF in collaboration with Groth AG has worked with the postal authorities in more than 200 countries, helping them select threatened species to feature on official postage stamps. The programme has so far raised over US$13 million.

By 1986, WWF had come to realize that its name no longer reflected the scope of its activities. The WWF Network therefore decided to publicize their expanded mandate by changing their name from World Wildlife Fund to the World Wide Fund For Nature. The United States and Canada, however, retained the old name.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, WWF invited leaders from the world's five main religions to a two-day retreat in the historic Italian town of Assisi. After the retreat, the leaders issued declarations that conservation was a fundamental element in their respective faiths. This led to the formation of an international network, that now includes eight religions, through which WWF and religious groups work together to achieve common aims.

WWF's status as a non-governmental organization with whom governments are happy to work means that it is extremely well positioned to press for changes in government policy. In 1985, the organization helped bring about an international moratorium on whaling. Since then, a whale sanctuary has been established in the important Antarctic feeding grounds. The fact that the organization has good relationships with governments has also enabled it to negotiate debt-for-nature swaps, under which a portion of a nation's debt is converted into funds for conservation. Debt-for-nature swaps have been made with a number of countries, including Ecuador, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Zambia.

WWF in the 90's. The 1990s began with the launch of a revised mission and strategy. The expanded mission reiterates WWF's commitment to nature conservation, and classifies the organization's work into three interdependent categories: the preservation of biological diversity, promoting the concept of sustainable use of resources, and reducing wasteful consumption and pollution. The 1990 strategy aims to decentralize WWF's decision-making, and to increase cooperation with local people.

The following year, building on lessons learned in the decade since the launch of the World Conservation Strategy, WWF, IUCN, and UNEP joined forces again to publish Caring for the Earth- A Strategy for Sustainable Living. Launched in over 60 countries around the world, Caring for the Earth lists 132 actions people at all social and political levels can take to safeguard or improve their environment, while simultaneously increasing the quality of their life.

One of the most important ways in which people can help ensure the future health of the planet is to cut down their consumption of fossil fuels. This will reduce the damage that air pollution and acid rain inflict on people, animals, and plants, and slow down the rate at which the world's weather patterns are changing. WWF works to make people and governments aware of the implications of climate change and to persuade them to reduce polluting activities to a minimum.

The organization works with governments in two ways as collaborator and lobbyist. For example, it cooperates with the government of Madagascar on an environmental syllabus for use in the island's primary schools, and with the Chinese Ministry of Forestry on a giant panda management plan.

In 1990, WWF helped bring about an international moratorium on the ivory trade. And in 1992, it played a part in pressurizing governments to sign conventions on biodiversity and climate change at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It is now working to ensure that those conventions are implemented in an effective manner.

WWF also maintains links with other non-governmental organizations both national and international. It makes a particular point of responding to local conservation needs, and working with local people. More and more projects involve rural communities in making decisions as to how their environment should be both used and conserved, while providing economic incentives.

At the end of 1993, Claude Martin took over as Director General of WWF International, replacing Charles de Haes who had served in this position for the previous 18 years. At the same time, the organization completed a two-year network-wide evaluation of its conservation work. On the strength of this study, it resolved to focus its activities on three key areas: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. WWF believes that in pursuing the new goals via carefully planned strategies, it will be able to make the best use of its resources.

Contributions from individuals remain the organization's most important source of funds, making up 53 per cent of its annual income.

WWF in the new millennium. To keep up with the evolving face of conservation and the environmental movement, WWF has not only grown in size and stature but it has also matured in its understanding of what has gone wrong and what is required to put things right.

WWF's focus has evolved from its localized efforts in favour of single species that characterized WWF in the 1960s, to new horizons encompassing national, regional and global scales of complexity. Focus of work today is as following: "Our objectives have never been clearer - slow climate change, reduce toxics in the environment, protect our oceans and fresh waters, stop deforestation, and save species," says Dr Claude Martin, former Director General of WWF International. "Our great achievement over the past 40 years is spreading the message - through us people know that nature counts."

The future. In the coming years WWF will continue to assume its role as a credible and influential global leader - influencing at the highest possible levels and at the same time staying firmly in contact with the realities on the ground. WWF is about "doing conservation", not simply talking about it!

Text 6. About the EnviroLink Network.

Mission. EnviroLink is a non-profit organization a grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers around the world with millions of people in more than 150 countries. EnviroLink is dedicated to providing comprehensive, up-to-date environmental information and news.

At EnviroLink they're committed to promoting a sustainable society by connecting individuals and organizations through communications technologies. It is recognized that technologies are just tools, and that the solutions to our ecological challenges lie within our communities and their connection to the Earth itself. EnviroLink does not take any positions on any specific environmental issues; it exists solely to act as a clearinghouse on the Internet for the environmental community, which is incredibly diverse in its views. EnviroLink is run primarily by dedicated volunteers.

History. The EnviroLink Network was created in 1991 by Josh Knauer, while he was a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University. Since that time, EnviroLink has grown from a simple mailing list of 20 student activists to become one of the world's largest environmental information clearinghouses. In addition to being an information resource, EnviroLink provides non-profit organizations in the environmental and animal rights communities with free internet services.

The EnviroLink Network's EnviroWeb program offers website and domain name hosting, automated mailing lists, interactive bulletin boards and e-mail accounts free of charge to non-profit organizations within the environmental and animal rights communities.

The EnviroLink images have an organic, tactile quality. The icons in the site are based on ancient artwork from indigenous cultures from around the world, reflecting the rich and diverse heritage of humankind's link to the earth.

The ancient meaning behind the symbol chosen for the EnviroLink logo is Infinite and Always Bound Together. The infinity symbol within the logo has a strong connection to the issues of sustainability – i.e. assuring a never-ending resource through sustainable practices. The duality within the infinity symbol represents the relationship between community and ecology – two vital areas that are on-going and must be nurtured to be sustained. This connection is symbolized by the circle. Within ancient archetypes, the circle represents the spirit of life, the human spirit or the real individual.

The stone images come from actual stones collected from the shores of Washington State and the Puget Sound, scanned into the computer and manipulated as electronic art files. Symbols were then carved into the stones, reminiscent of artifacts one would uncover in the earth.

EnviroLink is supported by the generosity of many environmentally conscious individuals and organizations. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone around the world who has contributed their generosity and hard work to EnviroLink. The EnviroLink Network also owes its eternal gratitude to the millions of people around the world who add their valuable presence and ideas every day.

Donations are greatly appreciated – they have been EnviroLink's longest continuous form of financial support and have allowed EnviroLink to continue operating since 1991. Without generous support have been received from the users, it would not be possible to offer free internet services for so many years. Escalating costs may force the organizers to implement a sliding-scale fee for these services in the future.

Contact EnviroLink

EnviroLink Network

P.O. Box 8102

Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Some thoughts about EnviroLink Network:

"A good entry point for Web newcomers with an interest in all things ecological is the appropriately named EnviroLink. It boasts one of the largest and best-arranged listings of environmental organizations on the Web." – Time Magazine.

"The Envirolink site is one of the largest online resources." – The New York Times.

"The Web's most complete environmental service.... EnviroLink has excellent search tools to aid the bewildered traveler looking for specific environmental information." – E Magazine.

"An excellent example of the global community ethic.... Pleasing to the eye and contains a bounty of useful information...[and] an extensive library. Attention to detail on EnviroLink is particularly noteworthy, right down to the icons.... A delightfully earthy experience! Verdict: Outstanding." – i-net (Australia).

"Had us dancing in our seats. This site is one of the most attractive and useful collections of Web pages we've encountered in our many travels." – Net Guide.

Text 7. About the British Ecological Society.

The vision of the British Ecological Society (BES) is to advance ecology and make it count. Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution, abundance and dynamics of organisms, their interactions with other organisms and with their physical environment. At a time when finite natural resources are being used at increasing rates, it has never been more important for human society to understand its impact on ecological systems and their importance in maintaining human health.

The BES’s many activities include the publication of a range of scientific literature, including four internationally renowned journals, the organisation and sponsorship of a wide variety of meetings, the funding of numerous grant schemes, education work and policy work. The Society also runs supporting initiatives such as the gratis book scheme which aims to make ecology publications available to those who couldn't otherwise obtain them.

The Society was established in 1913 and has approximately 4,000 members worldwide, and membership is open to all with an interest in ecology. There is a small membership fee, with discounts for students and those from low income countries. The Society is funded through income from subscriptions, publications and its investment portfolio. It is an independent organisation that receives little outside funding.

Membership costs just £40 per year (£20 for students/reduced/retired) and you can apply and pay online. Reduced membership is open to members who are residents in countries classified as "low Income" by the World Bank.

Existing members can renew their membership online. Membership is by Committee approval and may take approximately one month to process.

Membership benefits include:

• Reduced price registration for all BES run and sponsored meetings (BES Student members are entitled to further discounts).

• The Bulletin - the newsletter which keeps you up to date with the ecological community

• Networking opportunities to meet and interact with other ecological professionals

• Member only ring-fenced grants

• Low cost journals

• Member only discounts from leading scientific publishers

• Supporting the BES's vision and activities

Strategic plan. The British Ecological Society is a scientific society for those interested in ecology. Ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, the interaction between organisms, the interaction between organisms and their environment, and structure and function of ecosystems. Ecology is transboundary and so the Society works at regional, national and global scales.

Ecology's purpose is to provide knowledge about the way the world works and provide evidence on the interdependence between the natural world and people. A better understanding of ecological systems will allow society to predict the consequences of human activity on the environment.

BES’s vision is: advancing ecology and making it count. This can be achieved through:

• Developing ecological science and scientists

• Improving the quality of education and capacity building

• Promoting the use of ecological science

• Building collaborative partnerships

• Ensuring financial sustainability

• Improving efficacy

The plan sets out the high level strategic aims of the Society's Council for the next seven years, covering our centenary in 2013. The aims will be delivered through a set of annual business plans monitored by Council and the strategic plan will be reviewed in 2010.

In delivering these strategic aims, the BES will apply the following values:

• Influential: we will ensure the voice of ecologists is heard

• Objective: we are a science-based organisation

• Environmentally-sustainable: the environmental impact of BES activities will become an integral part of our planning process

• Forward thinking and innovative: we will use creative and novel approaches

• Collaborative: where appropriate, we will actively seek partnerships to deliver our aims effectively

• Efficient: we will make effective use of our resources

• Open: we will listen to our members and the wider community

Text 8. Eco-Organizations around the world.

Conservation International is a nonprofit environmental organization founded in 1987 and with headquarters in Washington DC. Working in over 40 countries, mainly developing nations, and establishing key partnerships with businesses, organizations, governments, and indigenous communities. Conservation International hopes to promote conservation throughout the world. Its aim is to safeguard the Earth’s biodiversity by tackling various issues. It is concerned with protecting species in the most biologically diverse areas of the world; conserving landscapes and seascapes to preserve natural resource preservation, and empower local communities to ensure the responsible used of natural resources.

Friends of Nature. International Friends of Nature is a non-profit organization which encourages green tourism. The organization began in Austria in 1895, and currently includes 600,000 members with 39 offices and about 35,000 voluntary workers worldwide. In its origins, the organization’s activities were aimed at raising environmental awareness and the conservation of natural resources.

Still in harmony with its original beliefs, International Friends of Nature is still committed to supporting sustainable development and promoting environmentally and socially sound tourism. In cooperation with local groups, the organization conducts various seminars and provides information material on environmental topics, and offers for environmentally sound travel programs for its members. In 1995, the International Friends of Nature also set up the "Institute for Integrative Tourism" (IITF) for sustainability research and education.

Green Cross International. Green Cross International is an international environmental organization founded in 1993 following the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With organizations currently established in 31 different countries, Green Cross International provides programs at national and international levels aimed at promoting a sustainable environment. It promotes norms and guidelines for the government, private sector, and communities to better understand humanity’s relationship with nature.

The organization’s programs focus on preventing and resolving conflicts arising from environmental degradation, providing assistance to all those affected by the environmental consequences of wars, and promoting values through implementation of the Earth Charter and various environmental education initiatives.

Green Globe. Green Globe is a Benchmarking, Certification and Performance Improvement program initiated by The World Travel and Tourism Council in 1994. This program is based on the principles for sustainable development derived from the United Nations Rio Earth Summit. The aim of the program is to provide guidelines for tourism industry members to focus their efforts on sustainability. Green Globe helps not only companies, but also and communities to monitor their environmental performance and identify areas that need improvement.

There are four different Green Globe Standards:

• The Green Globe Company Standard: It provides an environmental management framework for organizations within the travel and tourism industry. The company’s environmental footprint is first benchmarked, obtaining the Benchmarking Bronze Level. It may continue to the Certification Silver Level, and be eligible for the Gold Certified Level after 5 years of continuous certification.

• The Green Globe Community Standard: It provides the community with a structure to benchmark and certify environmental and social performance.

• The Green Globe Building Planning and Design Standard: It provides environmental standards for the construction of a specific building.

• Green Globe Precinct Planning and Design Standard: It provides specific guidelines to help developers increase ecological performance.

NatureServe is a non-profit environmental conservation organization whose mission is to provide scientific information about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems. NatureServe also develops information products, data management tools, and conservation services to help meet local, national, and global conservation needs and make informed decisions regarding natural resources management. The organization, established in 1994, represents an international network of biological inventories known as natural heritage programs and conservation data centers.

The information compiled is used by various sectors. Conservation groups use natural heritage data to identify important natural areas and determine conservation priorities. Local governments use the information to aid in land use planning. Developers and businesses depend on this data to comply with environmental laws. NatureServe is also carrying out numerous projects throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean designed to increase understanding of species and ecosystems.

Rainforest Alliance. The NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Rainforest Alliance was founded in 1987 with the goal of working towards biodiversity conservation. The organization works with farmers, workers, business leaders, NGO's, governments, scientists, and local communities in over 60 countries to develop and implement socially and environmentally responsible standards of practice and ensure sustainable livelihoods.

Its sustainable forestry division offers a certification program to encourage environmentally and socially responsible management of forests, tree farms and forest resources. Through its activities, Rainforest Alliance is also increasing the demand for certified products. Its sustainable agriculture division oversees the certification of farms that must comply with social and environmental standards. The sustainable tourism division provides tourism businesses in Latin America with training and tools to minimize their impact on the environment and local communities. The organization also works towards environmental education through an education site, participation in schools, and their Adopt-a-Rainforest program.

Society for Ecological Restoration. The Society for Ecological Restoration International is a non-profit organization founded in 1988 for the purposes of promoting ecological restoration for biodiversity conservation and sustainability. It now boasts members in 37 different countries dedicated to contributing to the restoration effort. Although the Society does not engage in any field projects, it encourages research and promotes ecological awareness in a series of ways. It offers conferences where members can exchange ideas and information and participate in workshops, fieldtrips, and other activities. Its journals, such as Restoration Ecology, focuses on research on restoration and ecological principles, and the Society’s restoration networks promote the appropriate use of traditional ecological knowledge to restore the culture of indigenous peoples. The Global Restoration Network offers case studies, databases, scientific papers, and resources numerous topics related to ecology and conservation.

TIES. The International Ecotourism Society, or TIES, is the oldest and largest ecotourism organization in the world. It promotes ecotourism principles and responsible travel in over ninety countries, looking to put sustainable travel and conservation on the tourism industry. With this goal in mind, it offers educational material, conferences, and a variety of resources for tourists and tourism professionals to educate society on the importance of integrating travel and conservation. Founded in 1990, this non-profit, non-governmental organization has worked to provide ecotourism guidelines and standards, expert knowledge, and assistance to further ecotourism development.

Through membership services, training, and conference programs, TIES helps organizations, communities, and individuals learn about and enjoy the benefits of sustainable travel. TIES members include academics, conservation professionals, organizations, governments, tour operators, lodge/hotel owners, and tourists worldwide who form a network dedicated to preserving the world’s natural and cultural heritage.

Fast Facts

• Greenpeace

Type: Non-governmental organization

Founded: 1971

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands (international)

Staff: Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director

Lalita Ramdas, Chairman

Area: served Worldwide

Focus: Environmentalism, peace

Method: Direct action, lobbying, research, innovation

Revenue: €212,316,000 (2007)

Members: 2.9 million

Website: www.greenpeace.org www.greenpeace.mobi

• The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal is WWF’s premier award. The purpose of the medal is to recognize, once a year, highly meritorious contributions to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources, but on Prince Philip’s retirement as WWF International’s president in 1996 it was renamed the Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal as a tribute to him.

• Man is the dolphin greatest predator, more than 100,000 dolphins die each year because of man, either in nets or for gastronomy (being eaten). In the Pacific Tunas and Dolphins follow the same routes, for years they were both captured in the nets aimed at the Tunas, the Dolphins were either drowned or slaughtered.

• If you witness the illegal capture, killing, or harassment of any marine mammal, such as bottlenose dolphins, whales, and seals, you may be able to receive a reward of up to $2,500 from the federal government. To get a reward, the information you provide has to lead to a conviction for a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. You can receive up to one-half of the fine that the government collects based on your complaint.

• Some species of dolphins are reported to swim up to 40 km/hr, due to special structures in the skin that reduce turbulence.

• The optimum swimming speed (the speed at which a dolphin spends a minimum of energy and hence can maintain for a long time) is about 8 km/hr. Dolphins sleep about 8 hrs/day which would leave 16 hours for travel. This would mean they can travel up to 128 km/day.

• The dolphin is capable of diving for up to 20 minutes at 300 meters, this is considered to be a maximum for a bottlenose dolphins. Although in some experiments they have dived to about 500 meters (a dolphin that was especially trained for this).

• Envirofacts Warehouse provides users with direct access to environmental information contained in various EPA databases including hazardous waste, Superfund information, toxic releases, facility information, risk management plans, grants/funding, water permits, and drinking water contaminant occurrence.

• Enviromapper allows users to map various types of environmental information including hazardous waste, water discharge permits, toxic and air releases, watersheds, and Superfund sites. Enviromapper can also be used to spatially view environmental statistics, profiles, and trends.

• Leaving a photocopier on overnight uses enough energy to print over 5,000 A4 (letter) copies.

• A typical office wastes enough energy overnight to heat 1000 cups of coffee

• 20% of energy used in an office is through equipment, and 50% of that through IT.