1973 iucn yearbook

The conservation of wildlife and wild places calls for specialist
knowledge, trained manpower and money, and we look to other
nations to cooperate in this important task - the success or
failure of which not only affects the Continent of Africa but the
rest of the world as well.
Immediately afterwards a public meeting was held on 26 September
1961, at The Royal Society of Arts in London, to announce
the establishment of the Fund. This meeting was addressed by
Sir Julian Huxley, Professor J. G. Baer (who, as President of
IUCN, had agreed to act as President of the Fund for the preliminary
period) and Mr. Peter Scott (a Vice-President of IUCN
who was soon afterwards elected 1st Vice-President and Chairman
of WWF). A World Wildlife Charter was read and adopted on
this occasion.
The announcement was well covered by the Press, and on
9 October 1961, the Daily Mirror brought out a "Shock Issue" of
the newspaper which devoted no less than seven pages to the
wildlife emergency, including the front and back pages and the
middle page spread. This brought in some £35,000 which went
directly to the central account of the WWF because the British
National Appeal did not officially come into existence until
23 November 1961.
In December 1961 Dr. Fritz Vollmar, a young Swiss businessman,
was engaged as Secretary General to the Fund and on
12 March 1962, he set up office at Morges.
Thus was the New Ark launched. It remains only to record the
two memorable dinners attended by H.R.H. Prince Bernhard and
H.R.H. Prince Philip. The first, held at the Waldorf Astoria in
New York on 6 June 1962, was, in effect, a launching ceremony
for the WWF in the US. The second, held at the Mansion House
in the City of London on 6 November 1962, emphasized the
national support for the British Appeal. By then the New Ark
was well and truly on its way.
New Directions
In 1969, a new chapter began for IUCN when the 10th General Assembly,
held in New Delhi, formally recognized that substantial changes were
required to enable the Union to carry out the mandate first given it in
1948. Pointing out that for 21 years, the Union had of necessity adopted
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