50 years of WWF

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In 1965 WWF Switzerland in Morges received a visit from Britain's Prince Philip, who was president of the organisation from 1981 to 1996. (RDB/ATP/Donald Stampfli) RDB

In May 1984, Laurent Duvanel, Philippe Roch and Pierre Lehmann (l to r) presented arguments to counter claims by the nuclear power lobby that nuclear energy helped protect nature. (Keystone) Keystone

In October 1986, the WWF started a campaign in Switzerland which enabled anyone to buy a square metre of unspoiled countryside for one franc to help conserve it. A group of children campaign for the purchase of the Creux du Croue in the Jura in western Switzerland. (Keystone) Keystone

In 1989 members of the WWF - one in a panda costume - abseiled from a bridge into the Rhine gorge to call for greater public consultation over new roads. (Keystone/Arno Balzarini) Keystone

A 1993 press conference about failures to observe the provisions of the federal clean air decree. The speakers wore masks to stress the point. (Keystone) Keystone

A demonstration in Bern in August 1996 about the increasing destruction of soil. (Keystone) Keystone

About 80 people demonstrated at the Fenêtre d'Arpette in canton Valais on August 5, 1998, against a plan to extend the Tête de Balme ski area. The protest, organised by "Mountain Wilderness", was part of the international "Mont-Blanc 2000" campaign. (Keystone/Mountain Wilderness) Keystone

School children study a stretch of woodland above the village of Tesserete in Ticino in October 2001 as part of WWF Switzerland's "Check your Forest!" project, whose aim was to make children aware of the importance of forests. (Keystone/Karl Mathis) Keystone

Members of WWF Graubünden and the Movimento Moesano vivibile demonstrated in April 2003, in Chur against a nuclear waste storage facility in the canton. (Keystone/Jakob Menolfi) Keystone

WWF Switzerland hands in a petition on June 23, 2005, against the illegal timber trade. (Keystone/Monika Flueckiger) Keystone

In 2006, the Swiss Fishing Federation and WWF collected more than 160,000 signatures calling for the protection of fish stocks in Switzerland. (Keystone/Lukas Lehmann) Keystone

Valais politician Jean-René Fournier took part in an awareness-raising event by WWF in May 2007 designed to show that sheep and wolves can coexist harmoniously. (Keystone/Olivier Maire) Keystone

Twenty years after the passing of a popular initiative to protect the Rothenthurm raised bog, pictured here in 2007, environmental organisations claimed that although most Swiss bogs and mires are protected on paper, the total area of bogland was still shrinking. (Keystone/ Sigi Tischler) Keystone

WWF activists demonstrate on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse against high levels of paper consumption in March 2007. (Keystone/Walter Bieri) Keystone

The lights of Bern cathedral were switched off on March 28, 2009 as part of WWF's "Earth-Hour" event. (Keystone/Peter Klaunzer) Keystone

Over 100 canoeists took part in a WWF action at the canoe world championships in Thun in September 2009 to draw attention to the threat posed to rivers by plans for new hydroelectric power stations. (E.T. Studhalter/WWF) Keystone

On April 20, 2010, environmental activists handed in a petition with about 14,000 signatures calling for a ban on heliskiing in Switzerland. (VCS/Lukas Lehmann) Keystone

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The WWF was founded by a small group of conservationists in 1961.

Originally called the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF has worked to protect tigers in the Indian jungle and save parts of the Amazon rain forest from tree felling. Initially, its actions centred on buying land to create nature reserves but more recently the organisation has worked as a lobby group applying pressure on governments to change their environmental policies.