This article is being written in Lviv, in western Ukraine. I have left Kyiv with my family, taking only what we could carry. We do not know when or if we will be able to return. Two days ago (4 March), I began military training with my colleagues, learning the basics of military tactics, handling weapons, and providing first aid. We are training, but we deeply hope that we will not have to put what we have learned into practice, even as Russian shells fall ever closer.

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The war has not completely stopped environmental protection activities. More than 125 different European organisations and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, including those in Ukraine and Belarus, are coming to our aid. They have published a call to boycott timber and wood products from Russia and Belarus. The Call.

More than 450 organisations have similarly called for a halt to the import of Russian resources, meaning oil and natural gas. These efforts and calls have borne fruit, as companies such as IKEA, Stora Enso, Metsa Group, as well as the international certification brand PEFC, have suspended or begun taking action to suspend their operations or cooperation with Russia and Belarus.

But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are several well-known international NGOs that are ignoring these calls. For example, the World Wide Fund for Nature (World Wide Fund for Nature). Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the fund's management in Switzerland has been quiet, as silent as if they have water in their mouths. And this is happening in defiance of many local (national) World Wide Fund for Nature offices that have expressed support for Ukraine.

In a brief public statement, the leadership of the World Wide Fund for Nature says that in this "humanitarian crisis, they stand with their colleagues and hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict". It must be said, however, that the WWF not only ignores calls for support for Ukraine but is trying to censor those of its colleagues in national World Wide Fund for Nature offices (representatives) who express their support publicly.

The World Wide Fund for Nature in Ukraine was one of the first to sign the call to boycott Russian and Belarusian timber and wood products. A few days later, I personally received a letter from the international management of the World Wide Fund for Nature (I have chosen not to name the authors of the letter), asking to withdraw (remove) the signature of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Ukraine from the call, explaining that this signature had not been coordinated and, accordingly, approved.

The justification: "as an international conservation organisation, we set strict guidelines to maintain our capacity for conservation anywhere on Earth in the long term."

It should be added that this attitude is seen not only from the World Wide Fund for Nature; BirdLife International is also "above politics" or has chosen to be, while The Nature Conservancy remains silent.

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As is known, international environmental organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature have immense influence over governments and companies in the so-called Western countries. These organisations can influence certification systems, such as FSC or MSC (Marine Stewardship Council), or international companies with which, by the way, they work closely. Environmental organisations can weaken the Russian economy so that it can no longer support the war.

The current, distinctly apolitical (full of pretence) stance proves the powerlessness of environmental NGOs, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, and their unwillingness to react quickly and meaningfully to international events. This is a harsh and ruthless time for both Ukraine and me personally. But... so far, there are no signs that the leadership of the World Wide Fund for Nature wants to change anything...