Projects

Creating sustainable seaweed value chains that will deliver ecosystem services and provide socioeconomic benefits.

Fishing feeds billions of people and is vital to the economies of countless coastal communities. But unsustainable practices litter the ocean with deadly traps that needlessly kill marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds.

Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, commonly referred to as ghost gear, contribute significantly to the problem of plastic pollution in our ocean. These gillnets, traps, and other types of fishing gear are particularly harmful because they can continue to catch target and non-target species indiscriminately for years. This impacts important food resources as well as endangered species. Because of this, ghost gear has been coined as the most deadly form of marine plastic debris, damaging vital ocean habitats, aquatic life, and livelihoods.

Earth Observations can provide real-time, globally available, and publicly accessible information for decision-makers to track current and future natural impacts and prioritize which actions to take for their localities. Teaming up with NASA, NOAA, and USGS, WWF is working to build better understanding of the beneficial outcomes from Earth Observations and how to improve them.

The Ecuadorian Amazon is at high risk of deforestation and degradation, with pressure on forest ecosystems increasing as competing land uses from extractive and agricultural activities continue to rise. The project will work at both regional and local levels.

For over six years, the USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership brought together government agencies, law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, and transport sector companies to disrupt wildlife trafficking through legal transportation supply chains in the aviation industry.