We are pleased and proud to announce the long-awaited publication of PandaLeaks – The Dark Side of the WWF: the controversial book by award-winning German journalist and filmmaker Wilfried Huismann, now finally available in an English language edition – unabridged and updated. PandaLeaks is a journalistic tour de force unearthing the grim secrets behind the warm and cuddly façade of the WWF, Huismann’s exposé went straight to the German bestseller list. This despite the fact that the WWF had initially managed to stop its sale for several weeks with a massive campaign of threats to the book trade. A series of lawsuits launched by the WWF also failed to achieve a book ban.
Greenwash
The WWF cannot refute the facts gathered by esteemed journalist and filmmaker Wilfried Huismann during his two-year research expedition to all corners of the “green empire”: the WWF, renowned global nature conservancy brand, is in bed with the world’s biggest environmental polluters; it “greenwashes” the ecological crimes of Big Business, the corporations currently destroying the last remaining rain forests and natural habitats on earth; and it accepts their money. The WWF doesn’t stop short of cooperating with GMO giant Monsanto. The business model of the famous “eco” organization does more to harm nature than to protect it.
Press reviews
The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung said of the book: “It paints the picture of an environmental organization rubbing elbows with industry; doing deals with the rich and powerful, the oil companies and GMO mafia, forgetting its goals and even losing its identity in the process.” Huismann also dug deep into the early history of the world’s biggest, most powerful nature conservancy organization and found several skeletons in the closet: the elite secret club known as “The 1001” and a private military commando unit deployed in Africa against big game poachers – and against black African liberation movements.
In the name of environmental protection the WWF has participated in the displacement and cultural extinction of indigenous peoples the world over. More than 20 million people worldwide are now classified as “conservation refugees”. The Swiss magazine Zeitpunkt called Huismann’s book “As suspenseful as a crime thriller.“ The German newspaper Die Welt wrote: “The revelations of this book shatter faith in the panda as a force for good.”
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Update 24 July 2015 - REDD-monitor WWF Scandal (part 6): Evictions of Indigenous Peoples in India for Tiger tourism
Update 9 October 2014 – REDD-monitor: WWF scandal (part 5): Pandaleaks – The Dark Side of the WWF
Update 4 October 2014 – Review in The Observer: WWF International accused of 'selling its soul' to corporations, frontpage link on the TheGuardian.com
The author: Wilfried Huismann
Born in 1951, Huismann studied history and social sciences. After a period as a development aid worker in Chile, he began his journalistic career in 1982 compiling investigative radio reports and authoring non-fiction books. Huismann went on to broaden his investigative scope to filmmaking, becoming one of Germany’s most respected and successful documentary filmmakers. In recent years he has added screenwriting to his activities, including scripting episodes of the German cult crime series ‘Tatort’. Huismann has been honored for his documentaries with three prestigious Grimme Awards in Germany as well as numerous international awards, including the World Medal at the New York Film Festival / BANFF Rockie Award / Certificato di merito silver, Prix Leonardo, Parma / Screening at Telluride Film Festival. Wilfried Huismann lives in Bremen, northern Germany.