Wolves join World Wildlife Day campaign

Wolves will mark World Wildlife Day by joining WWF and some of the world’s biggest sports clubs by removing the iconic wolf from the club’s crest for one day only.

Using the #WorldWithoutNature hashtag on Thursday 3rd March 2022, the WWF campaign will highlight the dramatic loss of biodiversity globally and the social and economic risks it poses.

According to WWF’s Living Planet Report, average populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have dropped by an alarming 68% since 1970.

The campaign is a poignant one for Wolves, who will join the likes of Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and Millwall by removing nature from their club crest on social media.

Russell Jones, general manager – marketing & commercial growth at Wolves, said: “As a football club, Wolves have supported World Wildlife Day for the past two years, and now in 2022 it’s no less important, so for one day we’re once again removing the wolf from our iconic crest as a show of solidarity for a crucial cause.

“In many areas of the world, the wolf is unfortunately an endangered animal, so we’re taking this opportunity to raise awareness for what might become a sad reality in the future – a world without animals, if action isn’t taken now.

“To have Wolves standing alongside some of the world’s biggest companies makes us proud, but also allows us to believe the work all involved with WWF are doing is making a difference for the future of all the animals in our world, including the wolf, which we are proudly associated with.”

Along with Wolves and those in the sporting world, some of the world’s most popular brands will be taking part in #WorldWithoutNature including Carlsberg, Hootsuite, Dove, Gymshark, On The Beach, Duolingo, Timberland, Sealife and Airwick.

Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said: “All around us, the beauty and nature that we’ve long taken for granted are quickly disappearing before our eyes. We know that human activity has already resulted in wildlife populations plummeting by an average of 68% in less than a lifetime. 

“Governments, businesses and consumers across the world must take bold action to reverse our impact on nature. That’s why we’re joining forces with some of the world’s best-loved brands, by asking them to remove nature from their logos, in a bid to highlight how desolate a world without nature could be.”

#WorldWithoutNature comes as governments from around the world gear up to negotiate the details of a new global agreement for nature. This is to be agreed at theCOP15 global biodiversity summit due to be held in Kunming, China, later this year.

WWF is calling on global leaders to use this opportunity to deliver an ambitious global plan to tackle biodiversity loss and set nature on the path to recovery.

On COP15, Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, added: “Ahead of crucial negotiations taking place at COP15, which will set global goals on biodiversity for years to come, we’re calling on governments to agree an ambitious nature positive goal and a concrete set of targets to re-verse nature loss and wildlife decline by the end of the decade.  It is time for a strong commitment followed by urgent action.”

WWF’s #WorldWithoutNature activation was originally the brainchild of One Minute Briefs, having been first created on World Wildlife Day in 2020.