World Wildlife Fund Buzzfeed story - Funding paramilitary groups, etc. (1 Viewer)

[Plorfu]

They're called the World Wide Fund for Nature now, but I didn't know that so I used their more familiar, past name in the subject.This is a long read and Buzzfeed is going to publish more in days to come. This whole story is bonkers.

Link

Random excerpts just to give you an idea

WWF has provided paramilitary forces with salaries, training, and supplies — including knives, night vision binoculars, riot gear, and batons — and funded raids on villages. In one African country, it embroiled itself in a botched arms deal to buy assault rifles from a brutal army that has paraded the streets with the severed heads of alleged “criminals.”

WWF’s work with violent partners spans the globe. In Central Africa, internal documents show the charity’s close involvement in military-style operations with both a repressive dictatorship and a notoriously fierce army.

In Cameroon, under authoritarian president Paul Biya, rangers have long been accused of beating and torturing people who live near the WWF-supported parks they patrol. The government believes “there are no human rights violations anywhere” in Cameroon, said spokesperson Loh Guillaume Kimbi. He added that taking “concrete steps to prevent poaching cannot and should not be considered at any moment as a gross violations of human rights.”

Secret budgeting documents from Lobéké National Park in Cameroon show how closely WWF’s staff have worked with government forces. The charity has helped train them, paid their salaries, and built them homes. It has bought them radios, satellite phones, TVs, 4x4s, and boats. And it has allocated a significant portion of the millions in donor money it spends at Lobéké to “enforcement” activities, including patrols and raids.

 

[Scoresman]

They really have come a long way from the days of Andre the Giant and Macho Man.  

 

[Jobber]

They really have come a long way from the days of Andre the Giant and Macho Man.  

Though you have to admit that Macho Man was...savage.

 

[krista4]

They're called the World Wide Fund for Nature now, but I didn't know that so I used their more familiar, past name in the subject.This is a long read and Buzzfeed is going to publish more in days to come. This whole story is bonkers.

Link

Random excerpts just to give you an idea

Thanks for posting this.  Intriguing and seemingly well-researched.  Wish it weren't written so poorly.  It will be interesting to see what the WWF says after its "independent review."  Surely they wouldn't be able to keep sweeping it all under the rug?

 

[Sconch]

Meh.  I like pandas and rhinos better than 99.9% of people.

 

[NutterButter]

Can someone tell me if these actions are in the spirit of helping animals?   

 

[Insein]

WWF had to give up their name for this? #NotMyWWF

 

[Nick Vermeil]