Fauna and Flora International


Fauna & Flora International is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the planet's threatened wildlife and habitats.

History

FFI was founded in 1903 as the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire by a group of British naturalists and American statesmen in Africa. It later became the Fauna Preservation Society, before being renamed Fauna and Flora Preservation Society in 1981. The goal of the society was to safeguard the future of southern Africa’s large mammal populations, which had declined alarmingly due to over-hunting and habitat encroachment. Working in tandem with landowners, government and sport hunters, the Society helped pass legislation which controlled hunting in vast stretches of East Africa and South Africa. This ultimately paved the way for the formation of National Parks, such as Kruger National Park and Serengeti National Park.

Activities

The Society's scientific journal – Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation – is published on its behalf by Cambridge University Press.
In 2018, The Guardian published an article that FFI was embroiled in a row with ethnic Karen people in Myanmar over plans to protect up to 800,000 acres of pristine forest from poachers, loggers and palm oil companies. The dispute was seen as part of a wider dispute, with the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, stating that despite “commitments by the world’s most influential conservation organisations” to respect indigenous rights, “little has changed”.
In 2020, FFI called on governments worldwide to adopt a moratorium on all deep sea mining, citing its impact on marine life.

Structure

Fauna & Flora International is constituted under English law as a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity with its head office in Cambridge. FFI has sister organisations in the U.S. and Australia, and a subsidiary in Singapore.
The logo of the society is the Arabian oryx, after the very successful Operation Oryx, a flagship Arabian oryx captive breeding project undertaken by the society.
FFI has a long history of royal patronage dating back to Edward, Prince of Wales, who became the group's patron in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II is FFI's current patron. FFI also has a number of high-profile vice-presidents, including Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Charlotte Uhlenbroek, and Lord Browne of Madingley.

Significant landmarks