Our Annual Report

In our 2023-2024 annual report you can read about some of the many breakthroughs and results we achieved during our latest financial year.

Read the full report

Read the summary

It was a year when we saw concerning backward steps from political and business leaders on their environmental commitments. But we’re so grateful that in the face of these and other huge challenges, you have supported us to help bring nature and the climate back from the brink.

You’ll see in our annual report that we achieved many breakthroughs. For example, we successfully made the case for businesses to consider their impact on nature in their plans to transition to net zero. And we successfully called for new UK legislation to protect forests, which will require companies to ensure they avoid products from illegally deforested land.

Our support resulted in a new national park being announced in Colombia to protect some of the world’s richest biodiversity. And we helped with work that’s led to Kenya announcing its black rhino population has more than doubled since the 1980s, to more than 1,000.

We also continued to encourage people to get involved and help nature. We joined more than 200 organisations and 60,000 supporters at the Restore Nature Now march, to show the UK public wants urgent action. And working with partners, we supported 20,000 people in nearly 250 grassroots community projects for nature.

As well as our many successes, you’ll find our full financial review and an outline of our new strategy to keep us on track to see signs of nature’s recovery by 2030.

Our achievements and performance

Averting dangerous climate change

Read about our successes, including how we influenced the UK’s net-zero transition plans. Thanks to our efforts, guidance now requires company plans to include solutions that work with nature to address climate change. We also developed a coalition to press the UK government to adopt a plan to leverage investment in climate solutions. And we led a successful effort to include a proposal about food systems for the first time in the agreement adopted at a major UN climate summit.

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Creating a sustainable food system

We continued to support and challenge food retailers to reduce their environmental impacts. We were instrumental in securing informal guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority that will help the grocery sector progress towards net zero. We also created a balance sheet for nitrogen use in the UK, tracking flows of nitrogen across the economy, including in agriculture, and identifying the biggest pollution sources to help prioritise action. Find out more about these and our other achievements under this goal.

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Restoring threatened habitats and species

We helped develop the Amazon Push – to end deforestation by 2030, phase out illegal gold mining, and increase the proportion of the Amazon that’s protected. We supported work that led to a new Forest-Friendly Initiative, under which major Chinese companies have committed to start transforming their palm oil, soy and beef supply chains. And in east Africa we funded and helped to construct predator-proof enclosures that have benefited people, protected domestic animals, and reduced retaliatory attacks on wildlife including lions. Read more about these breakthroughs and our other work here.

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Growing support

We’re incredibly grateful to our generous supporters who helped us raise £91.5 million this year. Read about the many ways we’ve encouraged more people to become active supporters, and how we’ve maintained the prominence of our brand. You can also read about a partnership that’s supported 20,000 people to engage with UK nature in nearly 250 grassroots community projects. And you can discover the incredible work we’re supporting through other partnerships – with Aviva, HSBC, NatWest, Reckitt, Vodafone and the World Resources Institute, as well as a new partnership with Lidl.

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Our highlights

A calendar of successes from the year under review.

© Rachel Palmer / WWF, RSPB & National Trust

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Creating a community fund for nature

With the RSPB and Aviva we established the Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund. Community groups raised £2.6 million across 248 projects in areas where there is the greatest need. The projects are helping communities restore nature, tackle food poverty and poor mental health, and improve access to green spaces. The fund won ‘nature-based project of the year’ at the UK Green Business Awards.
© Andrew Parkinson / WWF-UK

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Restoring a rural haven

Our work with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to restore Wild Ingleborough has planted 31,591 native trees and created 75 hectares of woodland in the past year. The landscape-scale project is powered by the knowledge and support of local people. During the year, volunteers gave more than 4,000 hours to grow saplings and plant 2,900 trees. This is helping to restore Ingleborough and creating a natural haven for wildlife and people.
© Callum Bennetts / Maverick Photo Agency / WWF-UK

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Returning oysters and seagrass

Our Restoration Forth project helped return native oysters and seagrass meadows to the Firth of Forth in Scotland, thanks to local community support. The project trained more than 500 volunteers in surveying, harvesting and planting seagrass seeds. It’s the first time in 100 years European flat oysters have been in the Firth of Forth. They will improve water quality and help prevent coastal erosion.
© Justin Sutcliffe / WWF-UK

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Shining a spotlight on forests

Our State of the Planet Address was a compelling reminder of the plight of our world’s forests. It coincided with the launch of our Forest Pathways report – a first global blueprint to save our forests. The address was given to a large audience of influential people invited to help us save important forest regions. Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and Nobel Peace Laureate, gave the keynote speech.
© World Pencil

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Celebrating nature through young voices

With the RSPB and the National Trust, we released a groundbreaking, youth-led film celebrating nature – Our Beautiful Wild. More than 200 young people from across the UK, many from deprived communities, were supported to make the film, developing skills in storytelling and filmmaking through our Young Voices in Nature project. The film is helping inspire other young people to share their voice for nature.
© Cesar David Martinez / WWF-Colombia

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Boosting biodiversity in Colombia

We helped establish a new national park in Colombia to protect some of the world’s richest biodiversity. The Serranía de Manacacías National Park will provide a critical safe haven for wildlife in a region under pressure from expanding industrial agriculture and mining. At 68,000 hectares – about the size of Exmoor – the park covers habitats including tropical savannahs, forests, wetlands, rivers and lagoons.
© naturepl.com / Francois Savigny / WWF

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Surveying snow leopards in India

We supported India’s first national scientific survey of snow leopards. Based on the data, the population was estimated at 718. The survey lasted nearly five years and involved multiple partners. Survey teams walked 13,450km of trails to record signs of the cats. They placed camera traps in 1,971 locations, and 241 different snow leopards were identified. The findings are essential for planning effective conservation strategies.
© naturepl.com / Denis-Huot / WWF

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Bringing black Rhinos back from the brink

Kenya’s black rhino population has more than doubled, from fewer than 400 in the 1980s to more than 1,000 today. We’ve supported the conservation of this critically endangered species in Kenya since the early 1960s. More recently, with the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, we helped to develop Kenya’s Black Rhino Action Plan for 2022-26. The increase shows the huge success of ongoing conservation efforts.
© Emanuel Moshi

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Training citizen scientists for wetland conservation

We’ve supported communities in Tanzania to lead the conservation of a vital ecosystem in the Mara. The Mara wetlands contain globally important biodiversity and are home to Africa’s largest inland fishery, but overfishing threatens food security and livelihoods. With partners, we’ve helped train 39 locals to detect early signs of river pollution. We’ve also trained 327 women to promote sustainable fishing practices, to improve food security.
© Andy Rouse / naturepl.com / WWF

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Safeguarding the future of wild tigers

We worked with many governments and partners to agree to raise US$1 billion over the next decade to safeguard the future of wild tigers. This funding is needed to expand tigers’ range and enhance existing habitats, while benefiting communities. WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative and our tiger landscape programmes have helped increase wild tiger numbers from as few as 3,200 in 2010 to an estimated 5,574.
© David Bebber / WWF-UK

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Promoting wellbeing through nature

We were the winners of ITV’s inaugural Head First award, an initiative that aims to shine a spotlight on mental wellbeing. Our Prescription for Nature campaign will encourage everyone to get their daily dose of nature. The initiative includes £1 million in advertising airtime to help promote the benefits of connecting with nature. It combines ITV’s reach into Britain’s homes with WWF’s scientific expertise.
© Simon Nichols

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Going the extra mile for WWF

After joining our inaugural Great Wild Walk, volunteer Simon returned to Epping Forest this year to help marshal more than 500 walkers. Participants at the event raised £30,000 for us. Simon was keen to continue his support and took on our Lake District 10 Peaks Challenge. Together, our wonderful runners, trekkers and cyclists have raised more than £500,000 for us during the past 12 months.

Financial review

Here’s a summary of our income and expenditure for the year ending 30 June 2024, along with equivalent figures for the previous year.

Read more detail in our full Financial Statements.

Pie chart of WWF-UKs income 2023-24. Membership and donations £39.5m, Corporate donations and income 18.2m, Legacies £16.4m, Charitable trusts £7.2m, Aid agencies and Government grants £4.3m, WWF Network and other charities £2.2m, Investment income £1.5m, Gifts in kind £0.9m, Lottery promotions £0.9m, Other £0.9m, Total £92.5m.

Pie chart of WWF-UKs expenditure 2023-24. Charitable activities £70.8m, Cost of raising funds £24.6m, Other £0.0m, Total £95.4m.

Messages from our Chief Executive and Chair

“WWF is in the best possible shape to achieve the impact we need in our urgent, renewed mission to bring our world back to life.” - Dave Lewis, chair

“The indomitable spirit I see every day – from volunteers, partners, supporters and staff – gives me hope that while humanity may cause the problems, we can also be the solution.” - Tanya Steele, chief executive

Read our messages

Strategy and priorities