#WorldWaterDay

Waterdoesn't
come from
a tap

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WWF
securing water
for people and nature

Water security is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. It goes to the heart of biodiversity conservation, food and energy supply, climate change adaptation, poverty reduction and conflict mitigation.

WWF is working to protect freshwater ecosystems and improve water access, efficiency and allocation for people and nature.

1 Water is life

© Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF

Back to the source

Freshwater is the source of life. It’s what makes Earth unique in the known universe. It’s also a resource under threat. Just 3 per cent of water on the planet is freshwater, and only about 1 per cent is readily available for human use.

The one-two punch of global population growth and climate change means we must be innovative and committed when it comes to water management and conservation.

WWF is working to protect freshwater ecosystems and improve water access, efficiency and allocation for people and the environment – an essential component of safeguarding WWF's priority places and species, and reducing the impact of humanity's water footprint.

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Camera trap

Follow a team from Cape Town, South Africa, as they cover more than 80km to find the source of the city’s drinking water.

  • To find polar bears, the researchers survey from the air. From the helicopter, an anesthetic dart immobilizes the bear for up to an hour so the researchers can safely assess it.

    Women and children fetch water from a newly constructed tap system on the outskirts of Virunga National Park, DRC.

    © Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF

  • The Norwegian Polar Institute is pioneering work in the use of geo-location ear tags that store a surprising amount of data on a chip set the size of a small coin- including temperature and light. That information may help them identify when bears go into dens.

    A group of boys plays in the irrigation channel that runs through Rweja town, Tanzania.

    © Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF-UK

  • Camera traps are high-tech devices, some of which offer the ability to send live pictures through MMS or email.

    Healthy freshwater ecosystems supply water for drinking, growing crops, manufacturing, energy and transport - as well as provide natural protection from flooding.

    © Wild Wonders of Europe /Diego Lopez / WWF

  • Polar bear research isn’t all high-tech. Here, the researchers team up to weigh a polar bear the old-fashioned way – with scales and a sling. A female may weigh 150–250 kg, while a male could weigh up to 700 kg.

    In Mongolia, a nomadic herder collects water from an underground well.

    © Simon Rawles / WWF

  • In order to set camera traps, WWF biologists walk through the field looking for signs of tigers.

    A man looks at a river just north of Beijing in 2009, when China was is in the middle of the worst drought in 50 years.

    © Global Warming Images / WWF

  • Camera traps are high-tech devices, some of which offer the ability to send live pictures through MMS or email.

    Freshwater ecosystems also sustain an amazing variety of plants and animals. Birds, fish and mammals depend on water ecosystems for breeding or feeding.

    © Martin Harvey / WWF

  • Camera traps are high-tech devices, some of which offer the ability to send live pictures through MMS or email.

    Even in major cities like Rio de Janeiro, delivering water of adequate quality and quantity remains a challenge.

    © Nigel Dickinson / WWF

2 Water footprint

© Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF

Protecting shared resources

Think of the first 15 minutes of your day. Shower. Jeans and T-shirt. Coffee and toast. Check headlines and email. Where’s the water in this morning routine? If you think it’s just what comes out of the tap, think again.

Water is in the cotton of your clothes. And the beans of your cup of joe (in the sugar and milk, too). Water flowed through the mines that produced the metals in your microchips.

Water’s in everything. That means even if you shorten your showers, you still use a lot of it. WWF works with companies to use water wisely -- to make your food, clothes and gadgets less “thirsty.” Learn how WWF and H&M are pioneering water stewardship for fashion.

Freshwater infographic

Help WWF build a future where people and nature thrive.

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.