By Umamah Bakharia
28:10:2021

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is accused of being aware and involved in human rights abuses and refusal to take responsibility for them.

The US House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing claims after receiving testimonies collected by Survival International from indigenous people regarding WWF awareness on the abuses by park rangers. 

According to Survival International, many Indigenous and local people were raped, murdered, and tortured by rangers funded by WWF, which has known about the abuses for decades but has done little to address them. 

Survival International’s Fiore Longo speaks to Radio Islam on WWF involvement in covering up crimes and what the US is doing about it. 

“[The abuse] is not shocking, as we have been speaking about abuses made by park rangers that the WWF funds since 1989,” says Longo.

WWF identifies area’s that should be protected, then sets up park ranger bases and then funds the operation for the rangers to preserve the area. 

Professor John Knox, who led a WWF-commissioned review into human rights violations in WWF projects, told the hearing: “I’ve been very disappointed by the failure of WWF to make a break with their past… WWF’s leadership is still in a state of denial about its role in fortress conservation and human rights abuses.”

Committee Chair Rep. Jared Huffman (D) condemned Ginette Hemley, WWF’s Senior Vice-President of Wildlife Conservation, who represented the organization at the hearing after its President and CEO in the US, Carter Roberts, declined to testify. 

Huffman also criticized WWF’s failure to take responsibility for the abuses they funded: “… International conservation funding is potentially being put at risk because so many people are frustrated and exasperated and incredulous about WWF’s failure to take responsibility. You wouldn’t answer a simple Yes/ No question about whether you bear any responsibility, much less provide [an] apology….”

An investigation is underway to collect more evidence regarding the human rights violations of WWF.

[LISTEN] to the podcast here