Facilitating real solutions for real challenges
The past year gave plenty of reasons for despair, but also for hope.
Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine’s people, infrastructure, and environment. Politicians and even governments attacked civil society and fanned fears of bears and wolves for political gain. Across Europe, political attention focused on security and competitiveness to the detriment of longer-term concerns regarding climate change and nature loss.
Unfortunately, ignoring these twin civilisational challenges will not make them go away. Indeed, their increasing impacts are already acutely felt in the CEE region as elsewhere. In line with long-term predictions, the past year saw severe droughts, forest fires as well as flooding in different parts of our region, with significant impacts on lives and livelihoods.
Such growing challenges demand real solutions, and it was in this respect that we also had good reason for hope as we saw growing receptivity to real solutions offered by WWF.
Across the region, we showed the possibility and benefits of working with nature rather than against it.
In Hungary, in the Upper Tisza basin, an agricultural area wracked by drought and falling groundwater levels, we demonstrated the benefits of restoring floodplains. In Romania, we showed how it is possible for communities to live in harmony with bears and other large carnivores. In Ukraine, we worked with government authorities including the anti-corruption agency to address corruption related to forestry as well as wildlife poaching and trafficking. In Bulgaria, we showed how partnership with the private sector can advance nature conservation through support for new protected area designation). And in Czechia, Slovakia and in other countries, the Living Danube Partnership demonstrated the benefits and results of cross-sectoral cooperation for climate resilience related to water.
Each of these cases demonstrated not only the benefits of working with nature rather than against it. At a time when many politicians and even governments are actively attacking and seeking to undermine civil society, these cases also underlined the essential role that civil society has to play in developing and delivering such solutions.
None of these solutions could have happened through the actions of one actor or one sector working alone.
And none would have happened without WWF’s development and facilitation.
The past year underlined that addressing the unprecedented challenges facing our civilization will require unprecedented engagement and cooperation between all sectors of society. And it underlined the essential role of WWF and other civil society organisations in mobilizing and facilitating this collective action for our common future.
PROGRESS REVIEW OF WWF-CEE STRATEGIC GOALS
Click on the goals below to view the corresponding detailed pages in our annual report.
