To those unfamiliar with the intricacies of green politics, they may seem like perfect bedfellows. However, Extinction Rebellion (XR) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have been engaged in a bitter row over conservation methods for months.
The spat was exposed when activists from the XR’s youth wing and a group called WTF WWF descended upon the nature charity’s headquarters in Woking, Surrey, on Tuesday, saying they “perpetuate colonial conservation methods that force indigenous people from their homes”.
Images shared on social media showed protesters sat down outside the WWF building after unfurling a banner which read “indigenous people protect 80% of biodiversity”.
The Conservative MP Alexander Stafford, who used to work for the WWF, said the stunt showed that XR had “completely jumped the shark”.
“By attacking those that work to protect the environment, halt our natural decline, and stop climate change, they have revealed their own nihilistic hand,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Any so-called movement that claims to want to protect our planet then targets an environmental organisation like WWF has lost any moral credibility that it tried to have.”
XR responded on Twitter by saying that they are a “peaceful non-violent movement” and pointed out that Stafford used to work for Shell, the Dutch-British multinational oil and gas company.
The demonstration in Surrey was intended to prompt the WWF to challenge “mass evictions and human rights abuses” against indigenous groups including the Maasai communities in Tanzania and the Sengwer people of Kenya, WTF WWF said.
In a Facebook live video, activists also claimed that the WWF has “invested the donations of their supporters into fossil fuel funds” and “made studies for Shell”, by researching where in the global south the company could drill for oil.
The WWF said that the protest at its headquarters was disappointing. In response to the allegations made by the activists, a spokesperson said: “Communities are at the heart of our work and as a global organisation we will continue to strengthen how we embed human rights into nature conservation, everywhere we work including in the most challenging areas of the world, to safeguard communities and the nature upon which they depend.”
In November last year the WWF released a 160-page report after an internal investigation triggered by claims of human rights abuses.
It came after a series of articles published in 2019 by BuzzFeed News following a year-long investigation, accusing the WWF of working with and funding anti-poaching guards who allegedly killed and tortured people in national parks in Africa and Asia.
The WWF commissioned an independent review into the allegations, which found no evidence its staff were linked to abuse claims. It noted that those accused of abuses were employed bv local governments.
However, the review criticised the WWF’s response to abuse allegations, highlighting the way in which it worked with local governments and its method of handling complaints.
The report said WWF staff were “aware of the potential for human rights abuses by ecoguards”, but did not “develop an effective plan to prevent and respond to abuses”.
