World Wide Fund For Nature – 2000

Dear Friend,

When WWF asked me whether I would lend my support to their Vanishing Species campaign, I was only too happy to help. I can only hope that my words will help persuade you to do the same.

Like many people I am enormously concerned about the damage being wrought on our planet. Our forests, rivers, countryside and coastlines are being destroyed at a terrifying rate, with truly tragic consequences for the vast array of species that depend on these precious habitats.

What especially appals me is the slaughter of many of the world’s most beautiful animals, some of which I was fortunate enough to see for myself as a child.

I was born in Swaziland in Southern Africa and spent the first 25 years of my life living alongside elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards and impala. Back then, these animals flourished in the wild.

How enormously things have changed.

Today I’m told there are no more than 2,600 black rhinos left in the whole of Africa. In Swaziland itself, wildlife managers have been forced to cut off the horns of their rhinos to save them from poacher’s bullets. It’s a sad, sickening abuse of the gifts of nature, but they have no alternative.

Yet the plight of the rhino is just the tip of a very large iceberg. A great number of the animals I remember so vividly are now totally dependent on wildlife reserves and private ranches for their survival.

Of course, the situation in other areas of the world is just as desperate. I’m no expert, but I know that magnificant animals like the tiger, the polar bear and the jaguar are all facing extinction. And in our seas and oceans, a host of other species are all under threat.

It all leads me to wonder what creatures will be left for our children to gaze at in the same kind of amazement I recall as a child.

I believe that we must all do whatever we can to save endangered species. And supporeting WWF’s Vanishing Species campaign is one of the best ways you can play your part. WWF’s dedication to conservation is second to none – indeed, over the last forty years, many animals that survive today would almost certainly have become extinct without their determined support.

WWF funds literally thousands of conservation projects around the world. It’s a massive commitment that requires enormous funds, yet a commitment that brings priceless rewards for anyone who appreciates the natural beauty of our planet.

That’s why I urge you to support this campaign. Quite simply, whatever help you can give WWF today will mean that more of their work can continue, so more species can be protected and more habitats presevered.

Thank you so much for sparing the time to read this letter and, I hope, for helping WWF to protect the species that make our world beautiful.

Many thanks,

Richard E Grant