WWF looks to EXPO 2010 to launch World Estuary Alliance

WWF China will look to raise awareness of climate change and the negative impact it will have on ecosystems when it launches its World Estuary Alliance in two years at the World Expo being held in Shanghai.

The World Estuary Alliance aims at providing a platform for estuary cities, such as London, Rotterdam, and Shanghai, to exchange their experiences of climate change, and develop solutions for conservation & sustainable development

The WWF exhibit at the Expo – entitled “River, Estuary & City” – will take the form of a 324 square-meter pavilion and use a variety of interactive media to highlight WWF’s efforts to preserve estuaries, while illustrating how to prevent further deterioration at the river basin level, and guard against the effects of climate change.

“Exhibits, devices and shows at the pavilion will be fun and family-oriented, and highly educational”, said Dermot O’Gorman, Representative of WWF China’s Program Office.

The Shanghai 2010 World Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors over the 6 months that it will run, with exhibits from 174 countries and 37 International Organisations. Organisers of the event, which is traditionally a platform for cultural exchanges and the introduction of innovative ideas, are describing the 2010 edition as “a great event to explore the full potential of urban life in the 21st century,” making WWF’s message particularly poignant.

“It is key that we convey to the people of Shanghai, and people around the world, that our current level of comfort is based on the natural fortifications provided by ecosystems ” said O’Gorman “we must learn not to take this for granted, and efforts must be made to protect the environment upon which our societies have been able to flourish.”