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Staff

WWF staff cycles against the Penguins from SANCCOB.
WWF South Africa is based in Stellenbosch. We also have a small office in Johannesburg and a few staff members based in the field.

Our staff members are committed to WWF's cause and will often walk the extra mile (in a panda suit if needs be) for the organisation.

Conservation team
Marketing & Fundraising team
Business Admin Support team

Contact us

WWF South Africa,
Stellenbosch

Millennia Park 16 Stellentia Avenue Die Boord Stellenbosch 7613 South Africa (Republic of) +27 21 8882800 +27 21 8882888

Executive Committee

Dr Morne du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa

Dr Morné Du Plessis, Chief Executive

Dr Morné du Plessis was appointed as CEO of WWF South Africa on 1 September 2007. Previously he was the Director of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute (PFIAO) at UCT. He has served as the Assistant Director of Biodiversity Research at the former Natal Parks Board and spent two years as a postdoctoral associate at the University of California at Berkeley.

He holds a BSc Agric (Stellenbosch), BSc Hons (Pretoria), PhD (Cape Town) and an MBA (Cape Town).

Ian Goodwin, Finance Director at WWF South Africa

Ian Goodwin, Finance Director

Ian Goodwin joined WWF South Africa as Finance Director in 2007. Previously he was the Manager responsible for Finance, Human Resources, IT and Administration across the Pragma Holdings Group. He held various positions in the financial world including Head of Finance at Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Ltd, Financial Manager at Old Mutual Direct, AGM, Finance and Risk Manager Norwich Investments SA Ltd and Senior Taxation Officer at the Receiver of Revenue.

Ian holds a CA (SA), B Compt. Hons (Unisa) and a Higher Certificate in Financial Markets and Instruments.

Saliem Fakir, Head of the Living Planet Unit

Saliem Fakir, Head of the Living Planet Unit

Saliem Fakir joined WWF in February 2009 as Head of the newly formed Living Planet Unit. Prior to this he was a senior lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Planning at the University of Stellenbosch where he lectured on renewable energy policy and financing.

He held the position of Associate Director for the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (University of Stellenbosch) and also served as Director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-SA) office for 8 years.

Saliem has a B.Sc. Honours in Molecular Biology from Wits and a Masters’ in Environmental Science from Wye College London. He also completed a senior executive management course at Harvard University in 2000.

Mark Botha, Head of the Living Lands Unit

Mark Botha, Head of the Living Lands Unit

Mark Botha joined as the Head of the Living Lands Unit in July 2009. His role and responsibilities at WWF include developing innovative land protection mechanisms to conserve biodiversity and attendant ecosystem services and cater for adaptation to climate change.

Before joining WWF he was the Director of the Botanical Society of South Africa’s Conservation Unit. He spearheaded the Conservation Incentives Programme, which has secured significant tax incentives for private landowners.

He also worked as an environmental consultant, a field officer for the Endangered Wildlife Trust and was a volunteer at the Queensland National Park Service, Australia where he assessed conservation management successes. Currently he is the Chair of the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board.

Botha has an MSc in Botany from the University of Cape Town.

Tasneem Essop

Tasneem Essop, International Climate Policy Advocate

Tasneem Essop joined WWF South Africa in September 2008 as International Climate Policy Advocate. Tasneem focuses on the international WWF Global Deal Network Initiative (GDNI) with the aim of securing a fair, effective and binding multilateral climate agreement.

Prior to this Tasneem held the position of Provincial Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development in the Western Cape (2004-2008) and was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Transport, Public Works & Property Management from 2001-2004.

Before the first democratic elections in 1994 Tasneem was an anti-Apartheid activist involved in youth, union and gender organisations. An educator by profession, she started her career in 1985, teaching English, History and Guidance at Glendale Senior Secondary in Mitchell’s Plain, Western Cape.
After 1994 she became an ANC Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL). She served as the ANC’s Western Cape Spokesperson on Finance & Public Accounts before her appointment as a Member of the Executive Committee in 2001.
Dr Glenda Raven

Dr Glenda Raven, Head of the Environmental Leadership Development Programme



Glenda is heading up the WWF Environmental Leadership Development Programme. Glenda taught for eight years at Fairmont Senior Secondary School in Grassy Park where she got involved with the school’s environmental club.

After completing her Masters, she left teaching and took up a position with the then Peninsula Technikon in its Environmental Unit, co-ordinating a range of community based environmental projects. After a year she started her own environmental education consultancy. For the next 12 years she worked within the education sector whilst completing her doctorate at Rhodes University.

She then joined SANBI’s C.A.P.E. bioregional programme as a co-ordinator of its capacity development programme.

At WWF, Glenda will capitalise on the work she has done at SANBI by continuing to develop the capacity of those in the workplace. She will also work with schools, colleges and universities to encourage young people to develop an interest in the environment.

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