WWF-Malaysia marks 45 years of conservation

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KUCHING: Established as a national conservation trust on Jan 13, 1972, WWF-Malaysia began as a humble two-person organisation.

Today this non-profit organisation has close to 200 talented individuals and runs more than 90 projects covering a range of environmental conservation and protection work from saving endangered species such as tigers and turtles to protecting highland forests, rivers and seas.

WWF-Malaysia also undertakes scientific research, public awareness campaigns, business and industry engagement, environmental education and advocacy work to achieve its conservation goals.

The year 2017 marks WWF celebrating its 45th year of establishment in Malaysia. WWF-Malaysia partnered with a local multi-media design and creative production house, DI Expressions, to develop a 45th anniversary logo that signifies its work throughout Malaysia in the last 45 years.

This anniversary logo is mainly to reconnect with its audience and shed light on WWF-Malaysia’s conservation efforts and successes in its 45th year.

“WWF-Malaysia has come a long way since its inception and we have many green wins to celebrate. A memorable logo is a powerful way to reach out to the public. We are proud to have dedicated ourselves to 45 years of conservation action, and the logo reminds of that,” said WWF-Malaysia executive director / CEO Dr Dionysius Sharma.

For instance in 2013, WWF-Malaysia’s tiger research and advocacy work contributed to the gazetting of 18,866 ha of Amanjaya Forest Reserve, forming a critical ecological corridor in the Belum-Temengor forest complex, a priority site for tigers.

A landmark report ‘Conservation status of tigers and their prey in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex’ was produced to provide a baseline for the iconic species.

After 13 years of persistent preparatory work led by Sabah Parks and supported by WWF-Malaysia, the largest marine park, Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), came to life last July. TMP has immensely rich marine biodiversity with more than

250 species of hard corals and around 430 species of fish, endangered green turtles and dugongs as well as significant primary rainforest, mangroves, and seagrass beds.

It contributes to the increase of marine protected area (MPA) to 11 per cent for Sabah and 2.1per cent for Malaysia from 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Since 1972, the science-based conservation organisation has played a role in gazetting 500,000 hectares of total terrestrial protected areas, touching the hearts of more than 1.2 million Malaysian students and empowering them to make more sustainable lifestyle choices.

Other successes include the recently concluded Earth Hour 2017 which united millions of people around the globe to shine a light on climate action.

With the logo anchoring this celebratory occasion, the organisation aims to hype this milestone with a tagline ‘45 Years of Conservation Action’, hashtag #wwfmy45 and engaging activities to be announced soon.

The organisation teaches the importance of conserving nature among the younger generation through its Eco-schools Programme.

The anniversary logo will be used until the end of 2017. The public can be part of this milestone by getting creative with the newly released 45th anniversary logo and sharing it on social media platforms. Visit wwf.org.my to find out more about this logo.