We offer opportunity to be heard and assisted

We want to ensure that any person or community who feels that they have - or may be - affected by our work can be heard and has the right to raise a grievance and seek its resolution. We also understand that grievance resolution can be complex and involve multiple parties, so WWF provides options for submission and resolution, including via the WWF Ombudsperson.   

How we treat complaints and concerns

Over the course of a WWF project, stakeholders can identify potential threats, raise concerns or express grievances. Our goal is to resolve such concerns as part of the day-to-day operational activity within communities but we equally appreciate that some grievances require escalation, specifically those related to claims of human rights abuses. We also consider the aspects of accessibility, usability, and impartiality/independence and how these influence the design of grievance mechanisms. 

© James Morgan / WWF-UK
What to read

More information about WWF’s grievance mechanisms can be found in the WWF Management Response and the ESSF, including the standard on Grievance Mechanisms. These can be downloaded below.

DOCUMENTS BY TOPIC

WWF’s Environmental and Social Safeguards and Social Policies are extensive and cover many different topics. Below you can find six topics that are frequently searched for.

 Amahuaca natives. Old man Santiago with a grandson at Nuevo San Juan, a small new Amahuaca settlement along the Rio Alto Purus at the border of the Alto Purus Reserved Zone, department Ucayali, Peru. Santiago and his native group lived isolated as hunter-gatherer along the headwaters of the Rio Alto Purus and Rio Inuya until 1975, when they had first contacts with the outside world.

Indigenous Peoples and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

The rights of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold their consent to actions that will affect them.

 Nepal hay NDCs

Human rights

We have several policies and standards in place to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights across all WWF activities.
 The Monkoto female police force. Monkoto, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Law enforcement

Conservation law enforcement is carried out by WWF partners. To ensure this is done ethically and in line with international law, we have several protocols in place in the landscapes/projects we work on.
 Entrance gate to the CAMIRON mine in the South-east of Cameroon.

Excluded Activities

This list outlines activities that WWF prohibits from its activities or funding.
 orinoco

Grievance Mechanisms

WWF is committed to strengthening its accountability towards the communities we work with. This page outlines our approach to ensure these communities can raise their concerns or express complaints about unintended negative impacts from our work and seek resolution. 
 
People working with WWF plant mangroves in the western coastal region of Madagascar. A mangrove, a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water, are key to a healthy marine ecology, providing shelter to crabs and shrimps, and reducing soil erosion. Birds, sea turtles, and dugongs, an endangered marine sea mammal, all use mangroves. The land-sea barrier is also an extremely efficient way to retain CO2, thus contributing to climate protection, says WWF.

Gender Equality

WWF recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality across the entire organization and applying its principles to all our work. Our gender policy guides this effort.