Opening address of the president

Dear Hams!

 Powerful Nature does not stop to surprise us with its wonders. Try to remember the places you have visited at least once. Every landscape – be it the mountains, the sea, prairie or forest – is attractive in its own way.

 During billions of years the Earth developed as per its own true laws. But then the man has come – and everything has changed. To feed his numerous, polygamous at that stage, family he started to kill animals. Then he started to cut the trees in the forest to free the areas he needed for grazing of cattle, field husbandry, and finally for construction of houses – first simple ones, united into villages of 2-3 homesteads, and then the monumental, which adorn cities. Ascending the civilization spiral the man has practically inhabited all areas of the planet excepting the regions not suitable for life. Virgin forests were turned into agricultural land, alpine slopes – into pastures, and then into skiing tracks. The lager part of peat swamps was drained; the riverbeds of the great rivers were made straight, immense flood lands were restrained by dams, and the flows cofferdam. As a result of such activity many of the plants and animals were deprived of their habitat. Surely, it happens sometime, that some of the species occupy getting adapted a new niche in the prevalent ecosystem. As a result new natural landscapes emerged, which also have the right to exist. However, neglecting of approved methods of nature administration leads to a situation, in which these territories even are in a threat of extermination!

 Awareness of necessity to protect Nature did not appear only yesterday. There were protected areas in different countries of Europe and Asia. First state Nature Reserves to protect nature communities emerged as long ago as in the XVI-th century.  However, the first National Park was established in the USA in 1872 only. This privilege was granted to the unique Yellowstone plateau rich in geysers and hot mineral springs. Then National Parks appeared in other countries of the world.

 The main predestination of the National Parks and Nature Reserves is to protect critically endangered living organisms. If there were no protected areas elephants, rhinoceroses, bisons and aurochs would be available only in Zoos, and some animals, such as Komodo dragons - giant lizards of Komodo Island, for example, would die away completely. And even such creations of the Nature as Grand Canyon of Colorado in the USA or Iguassu Fall's at the border of Argentina and Brazil would vanish littered by tourists.

It is difficult to describe even a smaller part of world’s wonderful places if you base upon some kind of suppositions. Choosing the final topic we have confined ourselves to the National Parks and Nature Reserves which were listed in the WFF database. Many of them were awarded status of UNESCO universal heritage monuments, though in some cases such a title was awarded rather due to some political reasons. Meanwhile, to the date there are about 3,000 National Parks and Nature Reserves and tens of thousands of Protected Areas in the world. And this number is increasing with every coming year.         

We do hope that the WFF Programme will find the attendance in the world’s ham radio community, and the forthcoming WFF travel will appear to be a pleasant and memorable for the DX hunters and expedition members.  I am sure that NEW ONE of the WFF Programme awaits you. Each of you can experience this feeling of a discoverer.  Please, support and make your contribution to popularization of the world-wide Programme for National Parks and Nature Reserves “World Flora Fauna”.

Our common goal is to reserve the flora and the fauna of the planet as much as possible.       

Let us save the Earth, our Green Planet, together!

Sincerely yours,
Victor Magnitsky,
RZ3DSD,
President of the WFF Programme.
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